Every Thursday right here you can read Inside the Dome, where we’ll get into a different topic on the Saints/the NFL as a whole, break down the Black and Gold, and talk about where things stand in the shield. In this week’s edition, the Saints just had their best performance of the season in New England and look to build off it in Houston:
I’ll get the elephant out of the room right off the bat. If you read this column weekly, you’ll recall I took the Patriots to beat the Saints last week. With both teams seemingly at rock bottom and New England having the perceived coaching advantage and being at home, it seemed logical.
As it turned out, the Pats hadn’t quite hit rock bottom yet, while the Saints responded from the beatdown against Tampa Bay with a 34-0 shutout of a dreadful New England team that can’t seem to do anything right.
It was by far the best offensive performance of the season for the Saints, with Derek Carr throwing two touchdowns and Alvin Kamara looking as effective as a ball carrier as he has in a very long time. Michael Thomas had a nice game as well, catching 4 passes for 65 yards.
Now, New Orleans has a wonderful opportunity to string two in a row together as they hit the road once again to take on the Houston Texans.
Houston has been a pleasant surprise led by rookie coach and quarterback combo CJ Stroud and DeMeco Ryans. The Texans are coming off a 21-19 road loss against Atlanta.
The Saints are favored by 1.5 in this one and must avoid a letdown following a great performance last week. Coming off a shutout from the defense and facing a rookie quarterback, it’s a great opportunity to get to 4-2.
But Stroud has not looked like a rookie quarterback thus far at all. He has thrown for over 1,400 yards, 7 touchdowns, and no interceptions on the year.
Stroud keeps it going and the Texans win a close one.
Prediction: Texans 23 Saints 17
