The New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots meet in week 5 NFL action from Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Saints Drop Back-To-Back Games

The New Orleans Saints come into this game on the heels of back-to-back losses after a 26-9 loss to Tampa Bay last time out. Derek Carr has thrown for 763 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions on 64.5% passing while Jameis Winston’s thrown for 101 yards and a pick on 58.8% passing. Taysom Hill leads the Saints with 101 rushing yards while Chris Olave has a team-high 23 receptions for 306 yards and Michael Thomas has 219 receiving yards. Rashid Shaheed also has 185 receiving yards. On defense, Pete Werner leads the Saints with 34 total tackles while Carl Granderson has a team-high 2.5 sacks as part of New Orleans’ 9 sacks as a unit this season. The Saints also have 5 interceptions as a group this season.

New Orleans Saints Team Facts

The Saints have won seven of their last eight games played as underdogs on the East Coast.
The Saints have covered the spread in each of their last eight games played as underdogs on the East Coast.
The road team has won the first half in each of the Saints’ last four games.
The Saints have won the first quarter in each of their last three October games as road underdogs.
The Saints have scored the first touchdown in seven of their last eight games played as underdogs on the East Coast.

New Orleans Saints Player Prop Facts

Tyrann Mathieu is just one away from 30 career interceptions

Patriots Suffer Worst Loss Under Belichick

The New England Patriots come into this game on the heels of their worst loss with Bill Belichick at head coach, losing 38-3 at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, falling to 1-3 on the year. Mac Jones has thrown for 898 yards, 5 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on 63.7% passing while Rhamondre Stevenson has a team-high 164 rushing yards and Ezekiel Elliott has 138 rushing yards. Hunter Henry has a team-high 17 receptions for 176 yards and 2 touchdowns while Kendrick Bourne has 16 grabs for 175 yards and 2 scores as well. Two more Patriots have 100+ receiving yards as well on the year. On defense, Kyle Dugger has a team-high 30 total tackles while Matthew Judon has a team-high 4 sacks but is slated as out indefinitely with an injury. As a unit, New England has combined for 10 sacks this season.

New England Patriots Team Facts

The Patriots have won each of their last eight Week 5 games.
The favorites have covered the spread in 13 of the Patriots’ last 14 games.
The Patriots have lost the first quarter in three of their last four games as home favorites following a road loss.
The Patriots have lost the first half in seven of their last eight games at Gillette Stadium following a road loss.
The Patriots have scored the first touchdown in each of their last five games as favorites.

New England Patriots Player Prop Facts

Jalen Mills is just three away from 10 career interceptions

Matchup/League Facts

The Patriots rank T31st in the NFL in Q3 points per game this season (0.8)
The Patriots rank 30th in the NFL in points per game this season (13.8)
The Saints rank 32nd in the NFL in red zone percentage this season (33.3%)
The Saints rank 32nd in the NFL in Q4 opponent points per game this season (11.8)

Chris’ Pick

I’m going with the under here. You have two teams that pride themselves for the most part on being defense-first, and part of that is because they don’t have a choice as the offense has been dreadful. Scoring has been like pulling teeth for both of these teams for much of the year and I look for this game to be no different. Give me the under.