Wilson will be looking for a repeat performance of Seattle’s 34-7 victory over New Orleans in week 13.
With 4 more games on tap this weekend, we’re back again to offer up expert handicap advice. The Divisional Playoff action kicks off with a rematch (Sat, 4:35pm EST) of a week 13 Monday Night contest: New Orleans at Seattle. The Seahawks trounced the Saints 34-7 that night so Drew Brees and company will surely be out for revenge.
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Expert picks and commentary for the game are listed below. If you’re looking to ride the hot hand, Jake Ciely (RotoExperts) was the highest rated expert in terms of his Wild Card picks. He was also a top 5 expert during our in-season accuracy contest. Evidently, he knows a few things about predicting football outcomes. Ciely likes the Saints (getting 8 points) this week.
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49% | 51% |
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“Seattle should win this game, but it’s going to be a relatively close one. The Seahawks have a potent defense that typically causes problems for opposing offenses and affords their own offense some wiggle room. That said, Drew Brees is hardly going to lay down and die. New Orleans doesn’t travel well and we all know what happened a few years ago when the Saints visited Seattle in the playoffs. The Seahawks defense largely kept New Orleans receivers in check in their Week 13 meeting this season, but I don’t expect this meeting to be a walk in the park. Seattle should win, but I don’t pick them to cover an 8 point spread. ”
– Kelly Smelser Punch Drunk Wonderland “Every year there is that one surprise team that makes a run, and this year I am picking the Saints to be “cinderella” and make it to the Super Bowl. Drew Brees has been there before, the defense is improved this season, and although they face a tough matchup in Seattle, I see New Orleans pulling off the upset.”
– KJ Fantasy Team Advice “Before I knew the line on this game, I was trying to decide if I thought Vegas would make this the full seven points or not. Apparently I was wrong to even be considering 6.5 since it’s all the way up at eight. But I was thinking about it because New Orleans has a top five offense and a top ten defense according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA. I know the Saints got blown out in Seattle in week 12, but they’re a much better team than that.”
– Brett Talley The Fantasy Fix “Throw that Week 13 embarrassment out the window, the Saints have found a run game and shrugged off their struggles outside of the Superdome. Prior to beating the Eagles in frigid Philadelphia last week, New Orleans put up a strong fight on the road against Carolina in Week 16. The Seahawks represent a much stiffer test, but I’ll take Drew Brees and the Saints to cover the eight point spread.”
– Wayne Bretsky BretskyBall “The Saints appear the contrarian pick at first since they lost 34-7 the last time these teams met, but they are also fresh in bettors’ minds coming off a big win, whereas Seattle actually looked a bit vulnerable to end the year. This matchup remains a shaky road team versus the best home-field team in football, but I expect it to be close.”
– Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports “New Orleans was blown out 34-7 in their first meeting and it’s very difficult to beat the same team twice in the season. I do feel that Seattle will be the better prepared team and win this game, but I don’t see them covering 8 points in this game. ”
– Jeff Boggis Fantasy Sports Empires “I’ll take Seattle to win but not cover. The Saints defense is playing well and this game will be decided by one score.”
– Nate Hodges Pro Football Focus “Seattle will win the game at home, but 8 points is an awful lot in the playoffs and I think something like 20-13 sounds reasonable. There is just no way the Saints will go into Seattle and win.”
– Jeff Brubach The Fake Football “Anytime I am getting more then a TD in the playoffs, I’m all in. Seattle is a tough place to play…yes but New Orleans will make it a close game. ”
– Ken Zalis Fans Fantasy Football “In wins at home this season, Seattle outscoring opponents by an average of 18.5 points, including a 34-7 trouncing of the Saints in Week 13. I just don’t think Sean Payton, Drew Brees and company will get throttled like that again. Seattle wins, but New Orleans keeps the game closer this time.”
– Ryan Rufe RotoBaller “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saints win this game. Their defense is playing very well and I’m not completely confident in the Seahawks’ offense right now. It is tough to win in Seattle but it was done just a few weeks back, showing it is possible. I think the Saints could surprise in this one, especially after a good showing on the road last week.”
– Jeff Paur RTSports “I fully expect the Seahawks to win this game, but Drew Brees is good enough to keep it significantly more competitive that it was the first time around. The Seattle offense is back-peddling into the playoffs, while the New Orleans defense is playing well. 23-17 Seattle.”
– Mike Clay Pro Football Focus “The road monkey is off New Orleans’ collective backs, despite the fact that Drew Brees maintained an unexciting road TD:INT ratio. I expect his struggles to continue against a team that throttled them earlier this year, but an 8 point spread will be tough for Seattle to cover against a solid defense and a QB that still moves the ball down field.”
– Jon Collins Fantasy Sports LR “New Orleans was embarrassed in the first meeting between these two teams and now have a chance to avenge that loss. Seattle is incredibly tough to beat at home and while I think they ultimately win, New Orleans will keep this game close. Sean Payton has had time to dissect the film from their first matchup, so they’ll ultimately come to Seattle with a much better game plan.”
– Staff Rankings 2MugsFF “When I got to this game, I was pretty set on picking the Seahawks, but then I saw the line at 8. While I do envision the Seahawks winning, I can’t pass up New Orleans getting a whopping 8 points. ”
– Mike Tagliere Tags Fantasy Football “After getting crushed by the Seahawks in the regular season, it’s hard to have a ton of confidence in the Saints. After all, the Seahawks are nearly unbeatable at home and the Saints have struggled in general on the road. That said, it’s not often that Drew Brees, Sean Payton and the Saints have been underdogs by more than a touchdown and it’s hard to pass up all those points.”
– Kevin Hanson EDSFootball “I still think the 12th man puts the ‘hawks as the winner but New Orleans is a playoff-proven team. I can’t see them losing by more than a touchdown. Kenny Stills will be the surprise WR in Seattle as their secondary has matched poorly with the smaller, faster wide receiver types most of the season (TY Hilton for example).”
– Sky Sperling Razzball “Getting 8 points on the road is great for New Orleans. They’ll keep it close and if I was a Seahawks fan, I’d be VERY nervous.”
– Paul Greco FantasyPros911 “I would discount the last matchup these two played, as New Orleans is certainly a much better team than the 34-7 beating on Monday Night Football. I think the Seahawks will win this game, but New Orleans will be able hold Russel Wilson at bay with a pass defense that allows 194 yards per game and had 49 sacks on the year.”
– Dan Yanotchko EDSFootball “I just can’t justify laying 8 points against Drew Brees. Certainly the Seahawks have proven they can cover that against the Saints when they shelled New Orleans a month ago, but doing it a second time? They’re going to have to show me. ”
– Russ Bliss Fantasy Football Starters |
“The last time the Saints were in Seattle they got pounded, 34-7. They proved last week they can win on the road outdoors. I just don’t see them doing it twice in a row – much less against the ‘Hawks.”
– Kevin Roberts Breaking Football “The Saints are infinitely better at home, and it would be pretty shocking if they pulled off another road playoff win. Last time the Saints played Seattle on the road it wasn’t pretty. I know, in the playoffs everything changes. But the Seahawks won 34-7… I don’t think Seattle will have much trouble covering 8 point spread. ”
– Michael Sherman Fantasy Team Advice “Between a week of rest for the Seahawks and their distinct home field advantage, everything is conspiring against the Saints in this game. Not enough has changed since their Week 13 meeting to make me think New Orleans has a chance to beat the spread, as large as it is.”
– Greg Smith The Fake Football  “The Saints finished fourth in the NFL in offense but scored just seven points in their game at Seattle in Week 13 and managed just 188 total yards. No one wants to face the Seahawks at CenturyLink and Drew Brees is about to get another reminder as to why.”
– Igor Derysh XN Sports “It might not be as one-sided as the first matchup, but I still think Seattle takes it to them. If Foles and Co. showed up at all last week, Saints would already be gone.”
– Kevin Kumpf Razzball “This game was already scripted in Week 13. Seattle beat New Orleans 34-7 in Seattle. I do think this game will be closer, but the Saints weren’t a good road team during the regular season and I’m not convinced that’s changed after the win in Philadelphia, especially in one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL.”
– Zach Greubel Gridiron Experts “I don’t see this game being a whole lot different from the first meeting between these two teams in week 13. Seattle’s defense is going to make life miserable for Drew Brees and company while Russell Wilson carves up the Saints secondary and Marshawn Lynch goes “Beast Mode”.”
– Walton Spurlin FantasySharks “I’m going to go ahead and play the fool on this one since the Saints figure to be much more competitive than they were in their Week 13 blowout loss in Seattle. With that said, New Orleans’ offense wasn’t exactly impressive against an average Philadelphia defense last week and probably isn’t going to score more than 14-17 points in this contest. The Seahawks’ average margin of victory in their seven home wins this season was 18.6 points, so I’ll take my chances with that.”
– Doug Orth FFToday “I don’t think the Saints can hang with the Seahawks, especially in that environment and with rain in the forecast. This could look like their Monday night mismatch in early December.”
– John Halpin Fox Sports “The Seahawks might not be completely bulletproof at home (as the Cardinals proved a few weeks ago), but it’s still the toughest place in the league to pull off a road win. This probably won’t be the cakewalk that it was for the Seahawks the last time they hosted the Saints, but they’ll still win comfortably.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice The Football Girl “Seattle playing at home is every team’s worse nightmare recently in the NFL and the #1 pass defense faces off against a one dimensional Saints offense that has struggled putting up points when it counts. This Saints offense could have put up 40+ against the Eagles, yet barely mustered up a sloppy win. No brainer here as Seattle runs away with this one. ”
– Keet Bailey Breaking Football “While in the rounding process our software program has this matchup at the Seahawks winning by 8 points, a closer examination of the numbers reveals a slightly higher probability of the Seahawks winning by more than 8 points than any other situation where they win by less than 8, or lose the game outright. ”
– Site Projections Fantasy Football Starters “Drew Brees described the atmosphere in Seattle as “loud and crazy” after the Saints’ victory last week over the Philadelphia Eagles. His statement will be proven correct this weekend as the speedy and physcial Seahawks’ secondary will smother the Saints’ wide receivers and will force the Saints to attempt to beat them with Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles. Seattle’s more balanced offense will put up points on the scoreboard and their defense will force Brees and company to make mistakes which should lead to more Seahawks’ points. Jimmy Graham was all but a ghost against Philadelphia, who has historically been shredded by TEs big and small, and I do not see him as a difference maker in this game either versus a defense that was 10th best against TEs on the season.”
– Tony Mauriello FantasyTrade411 “The theme of this week is underdogs. Dogs are 25-15 ATS in the Divisional Round over the last ten years, and dogs of seven or more are 13-7 over that span. That being said, this is the one big number I can back. Nothing I have seen from New Orleans since they were demolished in Seattle six weeks ago makes me think they are better equipped to handle the Seahawks. Sure they beat the Panthers, but that game was in the Superdome during primetime. New Orleans always wins games in the Superdome during primetime. Sure they went to Philadelphia and beat the Eagles, but do not forget Philadelphia needed a win Week 17 just to win the worst division in football. Seattle is the best team in the world when they are playing in Seattle, and they should crush New Orleans again. ” “Seattle is bound to win the Super Bowl; the last time the Saints rolled into Seattle they were beat in a major way. ”
– James Hatfield Hatty Waiver Wire Guru “Seattle crushed the Saints at home earlier this season and it looks as if they will get Percy Harvin back this week.”
– Michael Pichan RotoInfo “When these two teams played in Seattle in December, the Seahawks defense shut the Saints offense down, while SEA QB Russell Wilson took apart the Saints defense. I don’t see much reason it’ll be different this time around.”
– R.J. White Fantasy Football Cafe “The Saints went into Seattle earlier this year and were torn apart. They managed to score just seven points in that game and Drew Brees’ road woes are well documented on the season. The Seahawks lost at home in Week 16 and Brees won on the road last weekend. That’s still not enough to change my pick on this one. That 27-point win is too fresh in my mind.”
– Rich Arleo Bruno Boys “Whew… Eight points? That’s tough to swallow with Brees and all of the Saints’ experience. But, the Seahawks have had two weeks to prepare, they are the better team, and they are at home… so I’ll lay the points. Not happy about eight, though.”
– Dave McKay The Fantasy Sports Brain “Seahawks have won by an average of 15.4 at home while the Saints have lost by an average of 3.9 on the road. The public is currently backing the Saints due to the large spread perhaps concerned about a back door cover. The Saints are 1-4 ATS their last five games in Seattle and 2-7 ATS on the road this season.”
– Raju Byfield Win My Fantasy League “New Orleans struggles mightily on the road, Seattle is one of the toughest places to play, they beat them up once before, and Seattle’s offense and defense are both top notch.”
– Steve Wyremski Dynasty League Football “Seattle won convincingly last time these two teams met. It will be closer but Seattle will take it once again.”
– Adrian Pereira eDraft “I am never one to look at the last meeting to predict future results. Back in 2010, the New York Jets lost a road game to New England 45-3 and went back there in January and won 28-21. My problem is that the Saints offense has not been stellar in several road games against many different opponents. I don’t see the Saints offense being stellar this weekend, which means the Seahawks should cover the spread.”
– Derek Lofland Fantasy Football Maniax “Typically, I don’t like to use past games to predict future matchups. This is especially true in the NFL, a league where teams have “reversed” history quite a few times. As a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I recall the 2005-06 season where the team was handily defeated 26-7 at Indianapolis in Week 12 and then went back in the Divisional Round to upset the heavily-favored Colts. This matchup, however, isn’t going to be that way. Seattle dominated New Orleans in every phase and has fixed the run defense woes that existed in the middle of the season. The Seahawks will roll.”
– Ryan Hester footballandbrackets |
