Saints, Vikes kick off NFL season with championship-level rematch

Football Betting Lines

09/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints will begin the first title defense in their 43-year history on Thursday night, when Drew Brees and company host Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL's 2010 lid-lifter from the Louisiana Superdome.

The Saints are seven months removed from their landmark 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, a championship that offered a long- sought-after taste of glory for a franchise that had previously been among the most star-crossed in league annals.

New Orleans welcomes back most of the critical pieces from last year's run to a title, with Brees and the league's No. 1 scoring offense (31.9 points per game) returning largely intact and a playmaking defense undergoing just a few subtle tweaks.

Head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis brought in end Alex Brown (ex-Bears) and tackle Jimmy Wilkerson (ex-Buccaneers) to compete for jobs in the offseason, also using a first-round draft choice on cornerback Patrick Robinson (Florida State). One of the missing pieces from the 2009 squad, at least for now, is safety Darren Sharper. The Pro Bowler, who posted nine interceptions a year ago, comes off microfrature knee surgery and will miss at least the season's first six games. Another is linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who is out for the year with a foot injury. The Saints earlier this week signed veteran linebacker Danny Clark (ex-Giants), who last played for the team in 2006, to help bolster the depth in that area.

Attempting to exploit any lingering defensive deficiencies among the Saints will be Favre, who returned to the Vikings in mid-August after his obligatory annual battle with retirement.

Favre, whose key interception helped deflate Minnesota in last January's 31-28 overtime loss to the Saints, will begin his 20th season in the league, and second as the Vikings' starter. The 40-year-old legend comes off one of his top statistical seasons, in which he threw for 4,202 yards with 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions for a team that went 12-4 and won the NFC North.

Questions linger around the future Hall of Famer, however. Favre underwent offseason ankle surgery that helped delay his decision to return to the NFL, and the fabric of the Vikings' receiving picture is different from when he last led a meaningful drive last Jan. 24th.

No. 1 wideout Sidney Rice (83 receptions, 1312 yards, 8 TD in 2009) is expected to be out until at least November after undergoing hip surgery, and second-year speedster Percy Harvin (60 receptions, 790 yards, 6 TD) was sidelined for much of the preseason due to persistent issues with migraine headaches.

Also missing will be Chester Taylor, who defected to the NFC North rival Chicago Bears after catching 44 balls as a Viking a year ago.

The Vikes' added ex-Dolphin Greg Camarillo via a trade late in the preseason and signed Favre's former Packers teammate Javon Walker, though Walker did not make it past the team's final roster cuts.

The Saints will be trying to maintain a positive streak by reigning Super Bowl champions, which have won the next year's regular season opener in each of the last 10 seasons. The 1998 Denver Broncos, who followed up their Super Bowl XXXIII win over the Falcons with a 38-21 Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins in 1999, are the last defending champion to open their subsequent slate on a losing note.

SERIES HISTORY

Minnesota has a 18-7 lead in its all-time regular season series with New Orleans, and extended its winning streak over the Saints to four with a 30-27 road win in Week 5 of the 2008 season. Minnesota has won three straight regular season meetings at the Superdome since the Saints were 28-15 victors in a 2001 contest, a game that also marks New Orleans' most recent victory in the non- playoff series.

The Vikings have a 2-1 edge in the playoff series, including last year's NFC Championship loss. Minnesota won an NFC Divisional Playoff in 2000 (34-16), one week after New Orleans had posted its first playoff win in franchise history, and also claiming a 44-10 decision in an NFC First-Round playoff in 1987, which marked the first postseason game in Saints annals.

The Vikings' Brad Childress and Saints' Sean Payton are 1-1 in their head-to- head series, and 1-1 against their counterpart's respective teams.

WHEN THE VIKINGS HAVE THE BALL

With Favre still hobbled to an extent and the receiving corps in a state of flux, the Vikings could head into Thursday looking to ride the significant talents of running back Adrian Peterson (1383 rushing yards, 18 TD, 43 receptions in 2009) to a victory. Peterson comes off his third Pro Bowl season in as many years as a pro, but his three fumbles (one lost) in last year's NFC Championship loss to the Saints still loom large on his resume'. The offseason departure of Taylor means second-year-pro Albert Young (53 rushing yards) is in line for a bigger role as Favre's backup. When the most famous No. 4 in NFL annals drops to throw, a group including wideouts Harvin (60 receptions, 6 TD), Camarillo (50 receptions with Dolphins), Bernard Berrian (55 receptions, 4 TD) and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe (56 receptions) will be the top targets. Shiancoe's 11 touchdown catches led the Vikings a year ago. The trench group, led by tackle Bryant McKinnie and guard Steve Hutchinson on the left side, returns intact. The o-line allowed 34 sacks of Favre a year ago.

A Saints defense that knocked Favre around in last year's NFC Championship will look to execute a similar gameplan in this installment, albeit with some new pieces doing the attacking. Brown (47 tackles, 6 sacks with Chicago), who had 43.5 sacks as a Bear from 2002 through 2009, will seek to provide a complement to Will Smith (49 tackles, 13 sacks) in the pass rush, while on the back end second-year safety Malcolm Jenkins (47 tackles, 1 INT) takes on a larger role in the absence of Sharper from the lineup. A New Orleans team that was just 21st against the run last year leans on linebackers Jonathan Vilma (109 tackles, 3 INT, 2 sacks) and Scott Shanle (68 tackles, 2 INT), tackle Sedrick Ellis (34 tackles, 2 sacks) and strong safety Roman Harper (99 tackles, 1.5 sacks) to do much of the run-stopping. Vilma and cornerback Tracy Porter (57 tackles, 4 INT) each had interceptions of Favre in January's playoff contest, with Porter's pick in overtime setting up New Orleans for the game-winning field goal. That said, both Porter (knee) and Vilma (groin) are battling injuries heading into Week 1 and their status will bear monitoring.

WHEN THE SAINTS HAVE THE BALL

While Favre is dealing with some uncertainty among his group of weapons, his counterpart Brees (4388 passing yards, 34 TD, 11 INT) welcomes back an offensive arsenal that remains virtually intact. The team's core group of wideouts - Marques Colston (70 receptions, 9 TD), Robert Meachem (45 receptions, 9 TD), Devery Henderson (51 receptions, 2 TD) and Lance Moore (14 receptions, 2 TD) - will continue to compete for balls along with tight ends Jeremy Shockey (48 receptions, 3 TD) and David Thomas (35 receptions, 1 TD). Henderson caught one of Brees' three touchdown passes in the 2009 NFC Championship, with the other two going to running backs Pierre Thomas (793 rushing yards, 39 receptions, 8 TD) and Reggie Bush (390 rushing yards, 47 receptions, 8 TD). The biggest change for the New Orleans offense could come within an underrated running game that was quietly No. 6 in NFL rushing offense a year ago. Mike Bell was a free agent defection to Philadelphia, and former Packer DeShawn Wynn is now attempting to insert himself into the New Orleans mix of backs. A solid New Orleans o-line allowed just 20 sacks of the quick- firing Brees in more than 500 dropback attempts a year ago.

The big question for the Minnesota defense on Thursday night is whether it has enough horses to run with the bevy of Saints targets. Cornerback Cedric Griffin (73 tackles, 4 INT) is a major question mark as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery, while rookie CB Chris Cook (Virginia) is dealing with a knee issue of his own and will miss the opener. That could leave Antoine Winfield (52 tackles, 1 INT, 1 sack), Asher Allen (25 tackles, 1 INT, 1 sack) and newcomer Lito Sheppard (31 tackles, 1 INT with the Jets) as the team's only three healthy corners. Suffice it to say, safeties Tyrell Johnson (54 tackles, 1 INT) and Madieu Williams (67 tackles) will have to be on their game as well. Looking to get in Brees' face will be the fine pass-rush tandem of ends Jared Allen (51 tackles, 14.5 sacks) and Ray Edwards (51 tackles, 8.5 sacks). A run defense that was No. 2 in the NFL last season remains a strength, and could be taken up a notch with middle linebacker E.J. Henderson (82 tackles, 2 sacks) back in the fold following last year's broken leg. Henderson and fellow LB Chad Greenway (98 tackles, 3 INT) should make plenty of plays behind the "Williams Wall", tackles Pat (44 tackles, 2 sacks) and Kevin Williams (31 tackles, 6 sacks).

FANTASY FOCUS

Apart from Brees and perhaps kicker Garrett Hartley, using members of the Saints in fantasy lineups is always a risky venture because of the uncertain way the football will be distributed from week to week. Pierre Thomas, Bush, Colston, Meachem and Henderson are all going to get their touches, but predicting which weapon will make the biggest impact is a weekly exercise in futility. If it helps, Thomas scored twice against the Vikings in the 2009 NFC Championship, and Bush and Henderson found the end zone once each. The Saints defense scored a ton of real and fantasy points last season, and is a solid play even if there is no shutout potential here.

If you drafted Favre to be your starter, don't hesitate to use him. There may be some rust, and the receiving corps has some questions, but the guy always finds a way to make some big plays in these main-stage events. Peterson, Shiancoe and kicker Ryan Longwell are must-plays as well, and Berrian and/or Harvin might work as flex options. You're going to want to use the Minnesota defense most weeks, but this might be a time to pick up a spare "D" if it's a possibility.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The Saints might have to battle the after-effects of the "Super Bowl hangover" at some point in 2010, but look for their season-opener to be more an extension of the 2009 party than anything else. The Saints will have nearly their entire Super Bowl team on the field in what should be a raucous Superdome, and the big-game atmosphere should help Brees and company put their best foot forward. For their part, the Vikings would love nothing more than to spoil the party for a team that broke their hearts seven months ago, but Minnesota is banged-up and dealing with a little too much drama and uncertainty at this stage to make it happen.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Saints 33, Vikings 24

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.