The New Orleans Saints close out their 2013 NFL Preseason slate tonight with a meeting against the Miami Dolphins. The two squads are scheduled to kick things off at 7:30pm ET at Sun Life Stadium in South Florida. NFL Preseason odds at offshore bookmaker 5Dimes have the hosting Dolphins listed as a -5.5 against the spread and -235 moneyline favorite ($235 wins $100) while the game total is set at 36 points.
The Saints enter tonight's exhibition finale with perfect 3-0 record, but it could be said they lost last weekend's meeting with the Texans thanks to a season ending knee injury to linebacker Will Smith.
New Orleans, which is, no doubt, looking towards its week one meeting with the Atlanta Falcons, will likely sit its entire starting lineup for tonight's game.
Quarterback Drew Brees, who three for 104 yards and one touchdown in last week's 31-23 win over Houston, will not take the field, leaving field general duties to Luke McCown and Ryan Griffin.
Miami, which is playing its fifth preseason, will almost certainly employ the same conservative approach. With little to no quality depth at key positions like quarterback and receiver, Dolphins Head Coach Joe Philbin can ill afford to do otherwise.
Philbin has displayed almost zero interest in winning preseason games anyway (1-7 in eight exhibition outings), so it would make no sense for him to risk injury to a front line player for the sake of prevailing over the Saints in an utterly meaningless contest.
Tonight's clash between the Saints and Dolphins will be about two things and two things only. First, getting to the regular season healthy, and second, finalizing the roster before the cut to 53.
2013 NFL Preseason New Orleans Saints vs Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints +5.5 (-110), Over 36 (-110), +195 (Moneyline)
Miami Dolphins -5.5 (-110), Under 36 (-110), -235 (Moneyline)
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