Saints home underdogs in Week 8 against the Raiders, but health of players could swing things

After another disappointing loss against the Arizona Cardinals on the road, the New Orleans Saints are back home after a mini bye week (having played the Cardinals on Thursday Night Football). According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Saints open as 2.5-point home underdogs against their Week 8 opponent, the Las Vegas Raiders.

Because home teams are typically favored by 3 points as a matter of course, a 2.5-point line here means the odds-makers believe the Saints to be almost a touchdown-worse than the Raiders if the two teams played on a neutral site.

Considering the Raiders just rattled off a massive 4th quarter comeback against the Houston Texans at home (scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter), this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. While the Saints have struggled to prevent big plays on defense, Raiders RB Josh Jacobs is coming off a three-score game where he finished with over 150 yards from scrimmage.

For the Saints, much of their success will be dependent on the health of key contributors on both sides of the ball. Despite odds-makers liking the Raiders in this matchup, if Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore, Jarvis Landry, and others - Jameis Winston, maybe? - return for this game, this is definitely still a game the Saints can win.

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