Take Saints to cover small spread vs. limp Lions on MNF
Underdogs were 11-3 against the spread this season on "Monday Night Football" before the New York Giants covered as 2½-point favorites in last week's 31-24 win over the Miami Dolphins.
The Gold Sheet handicapper Bruce Marshall leans to the Saints to make it two in a row today for Monday Night Football favorites. New Orleans is laying between 2½ and 3 points against the Detroit Lions at Las Vegas sports books, with a total of between 51 and 52.
The Saints, 5-8 overall and 6-6-1 ATS, snapped a four-game losing streak in last week's 24-17 win at Tampa Bay, covering for the second straight week after dropping a 41-38 decision to the Carolina Panthers.
"(Quarterback Drew) Brees is starting to pick up the pace and the Saints look like they might be ready for a fast finish," said Marshall (goldsheet.com). "They're out of the playoffs but they could get to 8-8."
The Lions (4-9) are coming off a 21-14 loss to the St. Louis Rams that followed their crushing 27-23 loss to the Green Bay Packers during which Detroit blew a 20-0 lead as their three-game win streak came to an abrupt halt.
"Detroit had a pretty limp effort there against the Rams on the heels of the Green Bay heartbreak. They've already started house cleaning and could make more coaching changes with Black Monday coming up in two weeks. I don't think that's the situation you want here," Marshall said. "The Saints are the much lesser of two evils and it's not a bad price. I'm looking that way."
Detroit has scored 18 points or less in its last five road games and is 1-5 ATS in its last six games as an underdog of nine points or less. The Lions rallied past the Saints 24-23 in their most recent meeting in October of last season at Ford Field.
Marshall expects New Orleans to be more motivated in this one as Brees hopes to prove he's worthy of the $30 million he's due to be paid next season and Sean Payton might be coaching one of his final three games for the Saints.
"That's a huge cap hit. The team will probably ask (Brees) to restructure his contract and he's trying to prevent that or minimize that by finishing fast," Marshall said. "Payton might be looking to leave and Brees might not want that. It looks like this run has ended for the Saints and there might be a little edge to them here."
