The New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans will help round out Week 1 of the 2019 NFL regular season, kicking off the first Monday Night Football game of the year. And per tracking from the team over at NFL Pickwatch, the experts love the Saints’ chances: they’re an overwhelming favorite, with a 93% chance of sweeping the Texans aside.
It’s not going to be that easy, of course. The Texans have nearly as many superstars — pass rusher J.J. Watt, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, and young quarterback Deshaun Watson — as the Saints do in quarterback Drew Brees, running back Alvin Kamara, and wide receiver Michael Thomas. Hopkins and Thomas were the only receivers named to the first-team All-Pro list last season.
And the experts’ picks are off to a rough start; 60% of them tabbed the Chicago Bears and alleged offensive mastermind Matt Nagy to defend Soldier Field against the Green Bay Packers, but the Packers found an ugly 10-3 win in the season-opener. There’s plenty of logical deduction that goes into analyzing the NFL, but at the end of the day it’s a game with abnormally small sample sizes and plenty of randomness. It’s a league where any team can win on any given Sunday.
That’s been proven with the Saints’ streak of five consecutive season-opening losses. It’s as important as ever to start things on a positive note.
