Upcoming Match-ups

Saints Rewarded for Week 8 Victory Over Vikings in Super Bowl 53 Odds

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in NFL Football

Updated Jan 6, 2023 · 6:23 AM PST

Alvin Kamara New Orleans Saints
Alvin Kamara did a lot of the dirty work for the Saints while Mark Ingram was serving his four-game suspension, and has already totaled 139 touches in 2018, compared to 201 in 2017. (Photo by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire)
  • New Orleans Saints (6-1) and Los Angeles Rams (8-0) are only NFC teams with more than five wins
  • Saints have won six games in a row, the second-longest current winning streak in the NFL
  • Rams play at New Orleans this Sunday

Almost a year ago, the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams clashed at similar crossroads. 

After an 0-2 start, the NFC South-leading Saints had won eight in a row when they journeyed to Los Angeles on Nov. 26, 2017 to face the NFC West-leading Rams.

LA won 26-20, putting an end to the Saints’ run, but as they meet this Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, both teams will be putting impressive streaks on the line.

Average Super Bowl 53 Odds

New Orleans has won six in a row since a season-opening 48-40 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

The 8-0 Rams, meanwhile, are the NFL’s last unbeaten team, half way to a perfect regular season. But not only can the Saints end LA’s run at perfection with a win on Sunday, they can also establish themselves as the team to beat in the NFC.

Certainly, online sports betting sites are already buying into what the Saints are offering. Sportsbooks dropped the Saints odds to win Super Bowl 53 down to +650.

Odds of Winning Super Bowl 53

Team Odds of Winning Super Bowl 53
Los Angeles Rams +275
Kansas City Chiefs +550
New England Patriots +550
New Orleans Saints +650
Los Angeles Chargers +1600
Pittsburgh Steelers +1600
Minnesota Vikings +1600

*Follow the link in the table to see odds for all 32 teams

New Orleans is the only NFC team other than the Rams with odds under +1000.

Revenge, The Sequel?

Last week’s 30-20 win over the Vikings not only led to Minnesota’s Super Bowl odds jumping from +1200 to +1600, it also avenged the Saints’ heart-wrenching 29-24 loss at Minnesota in the 2017 NFC Divisional playoff round, when Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs caught a 61-yard touchdown pass on the game’s final play. 

With the Vikings at 4-3-1, and the 5-2 Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins the only other NFC teams besides the Rams and Saints more than a game above .500, it’s hard not to envision Sunday’s showdown as anything but an NFC Championship Game preview.

Can The Saints Go Marching On?

Last season, it was the Rams who put a halt to the eight-game winning streak of the Saints with a home-field win. Can the Saints do the same to L.A.? 

The Rams haven’t won in New Orleans since 2007, when they were the St. Louis Rams. Their last win in the Big Easy as the Los Angeles Rams was in 1993.

ThRams are the NFL’s best rushing offense at 150.9 yards per game. The Saints are the NFL’s best rushing defense at 74.1 yards per game. If New Orleans can slow LA running sensation Todd Gurley, then the Saints are in with a chance.

New Orleans is the only NFC team that looks capable of taking down the mighty Rams. But if the Saints can’t give the Rams a game on Sunday, it could be game over as far as the NFC is concerned.

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