It took Taysom Hill all of four quarters to assuage concerns about how the New Orleans Saints would fare while quarterback Drew Brees recovers from lung and rib injuries.
After a slow start in his first full NFL game under center, Hill led a convincing 24-9 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The Saints now own a two-game lead in the NFC South and sit one game clear of their closest competitors in the NFC.
The Saints (8-2) are in excellent position to claim the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC. They have already concluded their season sweep of division rival Tampa Bay and a Week 15 home game against Kansas City is the only remaining opponent with a winning record on New Orleans’ schedule.
The Saints’ odds of winning Super Bowl LV shortened from +750 last week to +650 at PointsBet, where they are being offered behind only the Kansas City Chiefs (+275) and the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile New Orleans has pulled even with Pittsburgh at +550 by DraftKings behind Kansas City (+300).
New Orleans holds a one-game lead in the NFC over the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, who are each 7-3 on the season and +500 to win the NFC title along with the 7-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The sportsbook is offering the Packers and Rams at +1100 to win Super Bowl LV, with the Seahawks at +1300 along with the Bucs. DraftKings is offering the Bucs’ title odds at +1100 ahead of the Packers and Rams at +1200 and Seahawks at +1300.
With a 1 1/2-game lead and the first tiebreaker over the Bucs in hand, the Saints have put a vice-grip on the NFC South with six regular-season games to play. They are being offered at -770 to win the division by DraftKings. Those are the shortest odds among division favorites behind only the Chiefs at -10000 to win the AFC West and the Packers at -835 to win the NFC North.
Oddsmakers haven’t jumped on the Steelers’ bandwagon to threaten the Chiefs just yet, but they are being offered at +500 by PointsBet and +520 by DraftKings to finish the regular season undefeated. The Steelers are scheduled to play the 6-4 Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night and still have difficult games against the Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns, who are each 7-3.
Meanwhile, the New York Jets’ odds of going 0-16 have shortened to +180 at both sportsbooks, with DraftKings offering them at -225 to win at least one of their final six games. PointsBet lists the Jets at -223 to avoid going 0-16.
–Field Level Media
