The NFL season finally gets going this week, with the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts hosting the New Orleans Saints to kick things off Thursday night.
The Saints are 6½-point underdogs at Sportsbook, but I like them to beat the spread. In fact, I like them straight up. The reason is simple: New Orleans is a more complete team than Indianapolis.
Indianapolis may be entering the 2007-08 season as the defending champs, but the Colts aren’t the same team that hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy last February after their 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. Eight players from that team are gone, including CB Nick Harper, LB Cato June, DT Montae Reagor, RB Dominic Rhodes, WR Brandon Stokley, and LT Tarik Glenn, who retired. With that major exodus, the Colts will have a tough time repeating, particularly with a defense that hasn’t improved from last year, when it was mediocre at best.
While the Colts could be a team in decline this season, the Saints are a team on the rise after winning the NFC South with a 10-6 record and making the franchise’s first-ever trip to the NFC Championship game. Some pundits are predicting the Saints will reach the Super Bowl this season.
Plus, quarterback Drew Brees will have the luxury of familiarity with his offense – the best in the NFL last season – as every key player is back with the exception of receiver Joe Horn. The Saints boast what is arguably the league’s best one-two punch in the backfield with running backs Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush, and they could be even more dangerous this season, the second year they’ll be running a new offense put in place by head coach Sean Payton last season.
Take the Saints at Sportsbook.
Nick Bailey
