NFL Picks – New Orleans Saints vs. Baltimore Ravens

The defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints are heading to Baltimore to take on the Ravens.

With some NFL picks for Week 15 of betting, we’re going to breakdown this inter-conference wagering matchup.

Sunday, December 19 @ 1pm EST on CBS

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NFL Odds: New Orleans Saints (+1.5) vs. Baltimore Ravens (-1.5)

Total: 43.5

This game features a 5-1 SU road team vs. a 5-1 SU home team. Saints vs. Ravens promises to be a bruising matchup with one of the tightest betting spreads of the week. These teams haven’t played each other since 2006, so we’ll need to look at recent play to handicap the matchup.

Baltimore is coming off one of the most exciting wins of the season. After starting out in impressive fashion, the Ravens were leading the Houston Texans by a score of 28-3, but needed an overtime pick-6 for the cover and win. The Ravens are scoring 22.6 points/game on the year – surrendering an average of 17.6. While they were victimized for massive gains through the air (393 yards, 3 TDs), they are usually tough defensively. Baltimore gives up 221.1 yards in the air on average and less than 99 yards on the ground.

The Ravens have won 3 of their last 4, covering in two of them. Baltimore is an even 6-6-1 ATS on the year, at 6-7 for Over-Under.

The defending champs have also covered in 6 games this season. Drew Brees has thrown for 3855 yards this year and will need his full arsenal of passing weapons against the Ravens defense. Chris Ivory is injured and the combo of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush are back from injury and ready to play. Terrell Suggs will be gunning for both Brees and the two RB out of the backfield – to get this done, the Saints will need to go through the air with protection for Brees.

The Saints have been scoring at a higher clip than the Ravens. Brees and the Saints have put up 25.4 points/game, allowing 18.5. They have played 7 games over the posted total, including 3 of the last 4.

In this tight matchup, my NFL pick leans toward the favored home team with the strong defense. The Ravens defense will need to stay fast and strong against the Saints passing attack. Baltimore is built to win games like this by a field goal. Bet them to win a close one as they try and keep pace with the Pittsburgh Steelers.