Jacksonville Jaguars vs New Orleans Saints 08/23/2021 NFL Preseason Preview and Prediction

The Jacksonville Jaguars will head to the Caesars Superdome to face the New Orleans Saints in Monday’s lone preseason game in the NFL.

Jacksonville is 0-1 in the preseason after suffering a 10-point home defeat against the Cleveland Browns the last time out. Meanwhile, the Saints are also 0-1 in the preseason as they lost to the Baltimore Ravens 17-14 in their opener last Saturday.

New Orleans has won five out of the last seven regular season head-to-head meetings against the Jaguars, including the last four. In their most recent meeting last October 23, 2019, the Saints won 13-6 in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have high hopes for top pick Trevor Lawrence. However, Lawrence looked mediocre in his first-ever game for the Jaguars as he completed just 6 of 9 passes for 76 yards while getting sacked twice.

Jacksonville’s defense was awful against the Browns as it gave up 23 points while allowing the Cleveland offense to pass for 319 yards. Last season, the Jaguars’ defense allowed 264.4 passing yards per game, 24th in the entire league.

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are also coming off a loss in their preseason debut. New Orleans struggled on offense, scoring only 14 points while committing six turnovers which was unusual because the Saints averaged only 1.2 turnovers per game last season. But then remember that this is the 1st year of the post-Drew Brees era and the Saints are still undecided on who will start on opening week.

Jameis Winston will be the starter on Monday. Winston looked good with the second team in his preseason debut, completing 7 of 12 passes for 96 yards with one touchdown and one interception. With the QB1 job still up for grabs, expect Winston to deliver another big game.

Who Wins?

The Jaguars are 4-6 SU in their last 10 preseason games, including 0-5 in their most recent five. Jacksonville however, is 4-2 SU in its last six road preseason games and was the betting underdog in each of those six games. Overall, Jacksonville is 0-10 SU in their last 10 games against the NFC.

The Saints are 4-3 SU in their last seven preseason games played but are just 2-8 SU in their last 10 preseason home games and 2-8 SU in their last 10 preseason home games as betting favorites. New Orleans is 8-2 SU in their last 10 games overall against the AFC.

Trevor Lawrence will be given every opportunity to earn the starting QB job but he’s got to do a better job than he did in their opener against second and third stringers. Head coach Urban Meyer isn’t a big fan of preseason play but he said he expects things to open up in their second preseason game.

Meanwhile, the Saints are also coming off an uninspiring preseason opener. But after an undisciplined and sloppy preseason opener, expect head coach Sean Payton to tighten up the screws. 

With more questions than answers on the Jacksonville end, you have to go with the team that has more depth and one that is playing at home.

Prediction: New Orleans Saints

Other Bets to Make

Jacksonville is 4-6 ATS in their last 10 preseason games, 5-2 ATS in their last seven preseason games played on the road, 4-2 ATS in their last six preseason road games as betting underdogs, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall on field turf, and 1-4 ATS in their last five Monday games.

New Orleans is 1-4 ATS in their last five preseason games, 2-8 ATS in their last 10 preseason home games, 2-8 in their last 10 preseason home games as betting favorites, 1-4 in their last five Monday games, and 5-4-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall against the AFC.

Head to head, New Orleans is 6-1 ATS in the last seven overall meetings between these two teams. The Saints are also 3-0 ATS in their last three meetings in New Orleans.

It may come as a surprise to you why the Saints are favored here after a disastrous preseason opener where they committed six turnovers, including three passes intercepted. But despite those turnovers and 10 penalties totaling 63 yards, New Orleans lost by just three points, 17-14.

Jameis Winston will be the starter on Monday and the former Heisman Trophy winner went 7-12 with 96 yards with one touchdown and one interception. That should work well for the Saints since Hill will be paired with the second-team offense and the latter’s ability to run with the football will suit the reserve offense better.

The Saints have historically been a poor performer in preseason games. But they’re playing the Jaguars, a team which they’ve dominated in recent memory. Sure, we won’t see their A-Game, but the Saints should do more than enough to cover the 4-point spread.

Prediction: New Orleans Saints -4

The total has gone under in seven out of the last 10 preseason games played by the Jaguars. The under is also 8-2 in their last 10 preseason road games, 7-2-1 in their last 10 games against the NFL, and also 8-2 in their last 10 preseason road games as underdogs. The Jaguars have also seen the total go under in six out of their last seven Monday games.

The total has gone under in seven out of the last 10 preseason games played by the Saints, including 4-0 in their last four. The under is 8-2 in their last 10 preseason games played at home, and also 8-2 in their last 10 preseason home games as betting favorites. New Orleans has seen the total go under in four out of their last five games as home favorites.

Head to head, the under is 4-3 in the last seven meetings between these two teams.

Neither team played well offensively in their respective preseason openers. That was expected because both teams still have yet to finalize their starter so they are giving every QB on the team a good look.

The Saints scored two TDs against Baltimore but self-destructed with turnovers. With Winston and Hill playing by committee again here, there won’t be enough continuity to produce a high-scoring game. The under is also 4-0 in New Orleans’ last four preseason games in week 2.

The under is 23-8-1 in the 2021 NFL preseason. I think this one follows that trend as well.

Prediction: Under 39.8 

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