NEW ORLEANS — It's now game week, Saints and Falcons, Sunday at noon.
The Saints are 5.5-point favorites, but Las Vegas isn't really crazy about either of these teams.
The over/under for the Saints has them under .500 at eight wins, but the Falcons are way worse at 5.5 wins.
That's according to Caesar's Sportsbook, who also put odds on every NFL team to win the Super Bowl.
You know the favorites - Buffalo and Tampa Bay.
Odds of +600 mean if you bet $100, you win $600. The Bills are 6-to-1 and the Buccaneers are 7-to-1 to win the Super Bowl.
The Saints are 40-to-1 to win the Super Bowl and are tied for 19th best odds.
The Falcons are 250-to-1 to win the Super Bowl. Las Vegas thinks they're the 31st best team in the NFL, but there are a couple of things that make this game scary.
So let's start our four takeaways from the weird post-preseason off-week with CJ Gardner-Johnson.
#4 The Ceedy Decision
Gardner-Johnson forced the Saint’s hand.
He was entering the final year of his rookie contract and demanding a new contract.
Dennis Allen and the Saints came to the decision - that not only were they not going to give him a new deal now, they weren't going to give him one after the season. Or they wouldn't have traded him.
Gardner-Johnson made it obvious he was not happy and Allen decided to cut ties and get what they could.
They didn't get a lot. And this trade, certainly in the short term, does not make the Saints better.
But Allen made the decision that they were not going to deal with a potential problem.
Even though Gardner-Johnson has been a really good player for the franchise for three seasons.
#3 The Werner Concerner
I think the trade increases the need to get Pete Werner back.
Werner started eight games as a rookie and showed enough upside that the team didn't re-sign Kwon Alexander.
Cutting loose Gardner-Johnson was possible because Bradley Roby can step into that role and the drop-off shouldn't be much.
But because Kwon Alexander is gone, the drop-off from Werner to whoever is next is large he's needed in a big way.
#2 Surprisingly Dangerous
A couple of things make this game dangerous. The Falcons beat the Saints last season in the Superdome.
And Cordarrelle Patterson went nuts coming out of the backfield. He caught six passes. For 126 yards. He was the difference. And why the Saints need Werner back.
Here's the other thing. Marcus Mariota is now the Falcons quarterback.
He's a read-option running threat. In the last two seasons, no quarterback has killed the Saints like read-option master Jalen Hurts.
Hurts killed the Saints running the ball in 2020 and he killed the Saints running the ball in 2021.
106 rushing yards two years ago in an Eagles win and 69 yards and three rushing touchdowns in Philadelphia's win over the Saints last season.
#1 The Retooled O
The retooled offense looks pretty good. This trio of Saints wideouts could be really good.
Jameis looks like a guy who's ready to take a step forward, and in the limited time we've seen the starting offensive line together, they've been really good.
And Alvin Kamara has never looked better.
Kamara will be the best player on the field Sunday in Atlanta.
He’s a given and as a new era begins, I think it begins with a win in Atlanta.
And that's my number one takeaway in this weird post-preseason off-week.