Things could change in a hurry, but for now the oddsmakers at BetMGM like the New Orleans Saints to win their Week 1 game with the Green Bay Packers — but barely. BetMGM opened by slightly favoring the Saints (-2.5) against Green Bay, with an over/under tentatively set at 50.5. That suggests a final tally in the neighborhood of Saints 26, Packers 24.
It would be a setback from last year’s higher-scoring matchup, when the Packers left town after a 37-30 victory. That was the Pack’s first win in New Orleans since 1995, and the first of Aaron Rodgers’ career.
But it’s far from certain that Rodgers will even return to Green Bay. His estrangement with the team has grown in recent weeks and opportunistic teams are already circling Lambeau Field (or wherever the Packers’ front office is based from) in hopes of snagging the reigning MVP in a trade. Combine that unease with the Saints’ own questions at quarterback — will Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston win the starting job? — and you end up with this narrow favoritism for the home team, making the game almost a coin flip.
Still, you have to think Hill or Winston could beat whoever goes under center in Rodgers’ place out of Blake Bortles and Jordan Love. Has anyone even seen Love wearing a Packers jersey yet?
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