New Orleans Saints vs Detroit Lions Prediction & Betting Tips - NFL

Prediction published on 01/12/2023, 13:00  by Matthew Newman | Modified on 01/12/2023 at 14:45 in NFL Predictions

The 8-3 Detroit Lions head south to the Bayou on Sunday to take on the 5-6 New Orleans Saints. It was a disappointing defeat for the Lions at home to the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving, a match that they will have been expected to win. The Packers scored three touchdowns in the opening quarter with the shellshocked Lions never really in with a chance of recovering. Despite that, they are still on top of the NFC North. Jared Goff has been his usual gunslinger self this season, already north of 3,000 passing yards for 18 touchdowns and 8 picks. Amon-Ra St.Brown has been his favourite target, the third year man just 7 yards shy of 1000 receiving yards. David Montgomery has only played in 8 games this season but he has scored TD’s in 7 of the 8 leading the running game, ably backed up by the excellent rookie Jahmyr Gibbs who has 5 TD’s in his last 5 games.

Things have been tough for the Saints so far this season. It's best summed up as one step forward, two steps back for the majority of this campaign with a 2-2 record at home. The Saints have won the games that would have been expected of them on their way to 5-6, the 1-10 Panthers, 2-9 Patriots, 4-7 Titans, 4-8 Bears and 6-5 Colts. Running the ball at home has been a huge issue for the Saints, averaging just 84.5 yards per game with Alvin Kamara and human Swiss army knife Taysom Hill not as effective as they have been in the past. David Carr has not had the success that he would have liked after leaving Las Vegas on a four year deal with the Saints. He has failed to throw a TD in four of their 11 games this season and has only thrown 10 in total, a long way behind his career average. This is a game, the Lions will be expecting to win, and they really ought to be.