New Orleans Saints vs. New England Patriots
Week 1 NFL Preseason Picks: August 9th 2012
Current betting line: New England (-3/38).

New Orleans is back in action after defeating Arizona on Sunday night, 17-10. Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees played just one series and drove his team to a touchdown. They’ll face New England from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Ma. on Thursday at 7:30pmET.

New Orleans is coming off a 13-3 SU season, where they also went 12-4 ATS and 9-7 O/U. Last year, they went 2-2 ATS in the preseason. Coaching this game will be Joe Vitt, taking over for Sean Payton, who is suspended this season. New England is coming off a 13-3 SU season in 2011, while going 9-7 ATS and 11-5 O/U. Last year, they went 2-2 ATS in the preseason, while Bill Belichick is 38-31 SU lifetime in preseason (36-28-5 ATS, 25-33-2 Under).

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The weather is expected to be humid, in the low eighties with a chance of thunderstorms.

Outside of the first drive, New Orleans wasn’t impressive on offense against Arizona. Chase Daniel did throw for 203 yards with a touchdown and a pick. They ran for just 82 yards on 32 carries. Defensively, they picked off two passes and allowed 189 passing yards though Arizona QB Kevin Kolb (bruised chest) was knocked out of the game early. New England is coming into this game as one of the strongest teams in the league as usual. At running back, with BenJarvus Green-Ellis gone to Cincinnati in free agency. RB Stevan Ridley is expected to take over if he can get over fumbling the football. The addition of LB Dont’a Hightower should some toughness to the defense. But they need to improve their pass defense which ranked 29th last year (293.89ypg in the air). The addition of rookie CB Ras-I Dowling should help.

Both teams have elite starters as Brees should go a series or two and the same with Brady. New England’s backups are Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett, who should both see a lot of time. Same with Daniel and Canfield for the Saints. Luke McCown didn’t play in the opener. There is a big drop-off from Brees and Brady to the backups.

The Saints have issues in the secondary as both starting cornerbacks will be out. Jabari Greer is coming off sports hernia surgery and could be back the final preseason game. Patrick Robinson (shoulder) is out indefinitely. New England is dealing with a knee injury to Pro Bowl G Logan Mankins (ACL surgery),who is still rehabbing and will miss this game as he’s still on the PUP list. New England is also banged-up on the offensive line.

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