The New Orleans Saints are hitting the road this week for a game with the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Stadium, and three out of four experts agree: the Saints should win this game.
This week, 75% of the expert picks gathered by NFL Pickwatch — surveying written content as well as the talking-heads on television and radio hosts — side with the Saints, while just 25% of those calls are going in for the Jaguars.
Maybe they’ve learned their lesson. Last week, 77% of experts liked New Orleans’ chances of holding off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That followed weeks of doubt that saw just 14% of picks calling for the Saints to upset the Dallas Cowboys at home, and only a few brave souls (4% of the surveyed experts) picking the Saints over the Seattle Seahawks on the road. At this point, picking against the Saints looks like a recipe for failure.
On the other hand, it’s clear that siding with the consensus doesn’t guarantee a win. The Saints have beaten those expectations before, and there’s a good chance the Jaguars will be capable of it, too. Nobody picked the New York Giants to stun the New England Patriots this week (100% of experts surveyed took the reigning Super Bowl champions) and Big Blue lost, 35-14. Wait. That doesn’t really serve our point, does it?
