New Orleans at Seattle

These teams met on a Monday night back in week 10, and it was all Seattle. New Orleans was held to 188 total yards of offense in that game. I certainly think the Saints offense will benefit from having played here this year. They now have a first-hand recent understanding of how loud this building can get, and they will make some adjustments. The sound wasn't the only problem the Saints had here last time. New Orleans went down 3-0 midway through the first quarter, and the game changed when Seattle picked up a fumble and brought it back for a TD for a 10-0 lead. Just four minutes later, Seattle scored again to go up 17-0 in the first quarter. That closed the playbook somewhat for New Orleans, as trailing by three scores they were forced to the air. Without having to commit a safety to the running game, Seattle draped a curtain over the Saints' receivers, and New Orleans couldn't do anything. Last week New Orleans generated 185 yards on the ground on 36 carries. While I don't believe they will be able to do that against Seattle, they will be able to run enough to open up some opportunities for Drew Brees which were not there in their previous meeting. Seattle's offense has been called into question this season, but they have had little problems scoring at home. The Seahawks' last 14 home games have seen them generate an average of 31.1 points per game. That includes 29.1 ppg this year. If that's a struggling offense, then give it to me every time! The Saints are 42-20-1 to the OVER when following an ATS win and under Sean Payton, they are 46-41 OVER following a win. The Seahawks have played OVER in their last four Divisional playoff games and under Pete Carroll, they are 14-4 OVER following a great defensive effort (a game in which they held their opponent to 14 or less). Also in the Carroll-era, the Seahawks are 19-8 OVER when facing winning teams. Remember, the last four times the Saints scored less than 10 points against a team, they came back in the next meeting to score 34, 28, 31 and 46 points - and three of the four were on the road. Take the OVER in this one.