Detroit at New Orleans Week 13 Betting Pick & Prediction

How about this for a turnaround? After finishing second-to- last in the NFC North last season with a 7-9 record, the Detroit Lions enter Week 13 with a 7-4 record and a first placement in the division, which puts them four weeks away from a potential first divisional title since 1993. That’s easier said than done, though, as the Lions have a challenging schedule to close out the season, starting with this week’s trip to the Dome for a pivotal Week 13 NFL betting matchup against the New Orleans Saints. Can the streaking Lions, who’ve won their last three straight games, ride their winning momentum into New Orleans, or will the home-solid Saints protect their home turf with a win of their own this Sunday? Read on below for an all-inclusive sportsbetting preview of this contest.

Detroit at New Orleans Week 13 Betting Pick & Prediction

Take a look back at #TBT photos of @Saints and #Lions showdowns over the years: https://t.co/xZMUnSNgXw pic.twitter.com/cpdwk9xC9z

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 1, 2016

Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans When: Sunday, December 4, 2016, 1:00 PM ET TV: FOX Radio: Detroit / New Orleans Live Stream: NFL Live NFL Lines: New Orleans (-6), OVER/UNDER 53.5

Why Bet on Detroit?

Minnesota’s defense was all over the place the place last weekend, but the Lions survived the contest against the Vikings by pulling through with a 16-13 Thanksgiving Day victory, improving Detroit’s record to 3-0 SU and ATS in its last three outings. Key to Detroit’s ability to win games recently has been the poise of QB Mathew Stafford in leading the offense. And after throwing for 232 yards and a touchdown on 23-of- 40 passes, he should definitely be good for a strong performance this week against New Orleans’ porous pass defense that ranks #27 in the NFL in defending the pass and is coming off suspect outing, where it gifted rookie QB Jared Goff 214 passing yards and 3 TD passes in just his second career start. Meanwhile, Detroit’s surging defense, which is allowing just 16.0 PPG in its last three games, should continuefactoring into the mix against New Orleans’ offense that has seemingly struggled for consistency against proven defensive units.

Why Bet on New Orleans?

After falling mildly short of the winning mark in the narrow losses to Denver and Carolina, the Saints ensured that they wasn’t any late drama in last week’s win over the Rams, as Drew Brees torched the Rams defense for 310 passing yards and four touchdowns against zero interceptions (on 28-of- 36 passes) while adding an additional score with his legs in a thrilling 49-21 win. New Orleans’ defense, which was repeatedly breached by Goff and Co. in the first half for 21 points, also cleaned up its act and came up big with a second-half shutout. On the account of the strong performances from both the offense and defense against the Rams, along with the fact that the Saints are solidly 3-1 SU and ATS at home this season, the hosts should be extremely psyched for a chance to put the Lions to the sword this weekend.

Betting Predictions and Picks

With Brees playing as efficiently as ever, Mark Ingram and NO’s rush attack running the ball splendidly and New Orleans’ defense showing improvements in recent weeks, you have every reason to go with the Saints for the win here, especially with Stafford and the Lions playing rather inconsistently in offense. Even so, this series has been a tossup with the two teams splitting their last 10 overall meetings and Lions’ defense is strong enough to keep the visitors in this game to the very end. As such, we feel that the Lions (who are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as road underdogs) will play well enough to cash in on the ATS betting ticket. Final Score Prediction: New Orleans 27, Detroit 24 Writer’s NFL Football Picks: Detroit (+6), UNDER 53.5