Saints at Raiders: What Bettors Need to Know
New Orleans Saints at Oakland Raiders (+4.5, 38.5)
STARTER REPORT
Raiders: Oakland coach Hue Jackson wouldn’t say how long he’ll play his starters on Sunday against the Saints, but, judging by the general rule of thumb, bettors should count on the Raiders’ first-string offense playing the entire first half and maybe a drive or two in the third quarter.
Newly signed rookie quarterback Terrelle Pryor is not expected to play against New Orleans but Jackson did say he’d give Pryor a few snaps in the Raiders’ exhibition finale.
That means Oakland will stick to its regular QB rotation, with Jason Campbell leading the first team offense and Trent Edwards and Kyle Boller backing up the former Redskin.
Campbell had to leave last week’s 17-3 loss to the Niners after getting knocked in the head, but he was back in practice on Tuesday and has been playing with Oakland’s starters all week.
Saints: New Orleans head coach Sean Payton told reporters his primary starters would play the first half “and then we’ll see where we are at halftime to see what we’re going to do in the third quarter.”
INJURY REPORT
The Saints will be without starters Lance Moore (WR), Roman Harper (S) and Sedrick Ellis (DT). The Raiders, meanwhile, won’t have newly signed CB Lito Sheppard or starting LB Rolando McClain suiting up Sunday.
Running back Darren McFadden has been the star of the Raiders' camp but it’s unclear whether the Pro Bowler will see any preseason action because of how important he is to the offense. He broke his orbital bone at the start of August and only recently returned to full practices.
PRESEASON PERFORMANCE
Silver and Black backers hope the club’s play in the preseason isn’t a sign of things to come. The Raiders have been uneven on offense and defense, losing to the Niners and Cardinals so far.
Oakland’s biggest weakness so far is its run defense. The unit gave up 239 yards on the ground last week to San Fran and allowed over four yards per carry against Arizona, too.
The Saints looked great in Week 1 but not as sharp last weekend against the Texans. Houston gained over 400 yards, most of which came against New Orleans’ first-string defense.
THING TO REMEMBER
New Orleans is 4-0 SU and ATS in its last four Week 3 preseason games. The third week of the preseason is generally when starters play the most and coaches actually do a bit of game planning.
The Raiders, on the other hand, are 0-3 SU and ATS in their last three Week 3 preseason games and were outscored 97-31 in the process, including a 45-7 beatdown at the hands of the Saints two years ago.
Saints Meet Raiders On Sunday Night Football
By: Adam Markowitz
NBC's Sunday Night Football betting action returns this weekend with a stand-alone game on the NFL slate. The Oakland Raiders (0-2) will play host to the New Orleans Saints (1-1). Kickoff from O.co Coliseum is slated for 8:00 p.m. (ET).
The Raiders have a whole heck of a lot of wounds to lick in this game. Over the course of the first two weeks of the preseason, the starting offense has yet to find the end zone, and as a result, the team is just good for 10.5 PPG. Needless to say, even in the preseason, those numbers aren't good enough to lead the team to victories, and Oakland is 0-2 SU and ATS to show for it.
On top of that, the Raiders are going to be looking for a measure of revenge from the last time that these two teams met in the preseason. New Orleans came here to O.co Coliseum (then known as McAfee Coliseum) and dropped a 45-7 beat down on the hosts.
Things are a little puzzling for Head Coach Hue Jackson right now, as his offense is being executed very poorly. Quarterbacks combined to go an efficient 23-of-36 for 248 yards and a score against the Arizona Cardinals in the first week of the preseason, but they only went 14-of-24 for 166 yards with two picks last week against the San Francisco 49ers.
The running game has been dull without RB Darren McFadden. There hasn't been a single carry of more than 13 yards in the entire preseason and running backs have only had a total of three carries for double digit yards in two games.
Meanwhile, it will be the defense that has to step up against this potent New Orleans offense. This unit, which is now trying to operate without its former superstar Nnamdi Asomugha, really didn't fare well against a similar Arizona offense. The Cards dropped 24 points and 290 passing yards against the Oakland defense.
However, it's not like the Saints are going to have a full roster at their disposal. Head Coach Sean Payton is probably a heck of a lot more concerned about getting through this third preseason game healthy than he is about winning it. There are already a boatload of injuries, and some key ones at that, that could hamper the team's efforts when the games start to count in two weeks.
The big problem could be at running back. With Reggie Bush being traded in the offseason, there was an immense amount of pressure put on the shoulders of rookie Mark Ingram. However, Ingram was banged up this week in practice with a groin injury, but he was back in the fold on Thursday and could be in the lineup on Sunday. Chris Ivory is already out with a long term injury that will cost him some time in the regular season as well.
Carl Nicks, one of the best offensive linemen on the team, has a knee injury too, and though he will likely not play on Sunday, he should be fine for the regular season.
Still, the New Orleans offense, without having the starters on the field for all that long over the course of the preseason, has still managed to score a respectable 38 points. Things should only improve this week against a potentially porous Oakland 'D'.
It should be a nice night in Oakland on Sunday. Temperatures should start in the high-70s and dip into the low-60s by the time the game is over with. Winds will be relatively light out of the West.
The Saints are 4 1/2-point favorites on the NFL betting odds on Sunday night, while the 'total' has been set at 38 1/2.