NEW ORLEANS — Are you ready for the biggest Louisiana football weekend of the year? We got Tulane and LSU both ranked in the top 25 playing huge games and the New Orleans Saints hosting the Baltimore Ravens Monday night. It's football heaven. Add in 2 potential Houston Astros World Series games for me and it has the possibility of being the most incredible sports weekend of my life.
Enjoy these types of weekends. It's rare to have all the local football teams relevant. Cook or order lots of unhealthy food, assemble a full complement of adult beverages and lock in for a spectacular football weekend.
It's so big and spectacular let's get right to it....
Saints Fan Mood and Meditation Music: Feels -- Calvin Harris featuring Pharrell, Katy Perry and Big Sean
This weekend might be heartache ache or it might be a party. Don't be afraid to catch feels. Expect ALL THE EMOTIONS. The most fun possibility is if LSU and Tulane keep on winning, they could meet in the Cotton Bowl. OMG! Are you kidding? Just the thought has me tingling and up in my feels.
The Saints could kick off Monday knowing a win gets them tied for first place in the NFC South. Oh and the Saints are HANDING OUT DOME PATROL POSTERS TO HONOR SAM MILLS!! Any Saints fan over 40 is going treat getting one of those posters like a kid getting a golden ticket from Willy Wonka.
Emotional overload.
ALL THE FEELS ARE COMING
The Games Last Week: 4-1 Season: 26-14
Tulane (-7.5) at Tulsa: I won't pretend to be a die-hard Green Wave fan but I do watch and gamble on them. They've won me money this year so I like them very much. They have a frustrating habit lately of jumping all over teams then sort of coasting but there are worse problems to have. Handle your business Tulane and keep our LSU-Tulane New Year's Day bowl match-up dream alive.
Tulane 31-17
LSU (+13.5) vs Alabama: Brian Kelly having LSU playing Alabama for the SEC West crown in his first season as LSU coach is an incredible surprise. I'm picking with my purple and gold glasses here.
LSU slow starts and poor first halves may doom them against Alabama. My belief in LSU is based on Tiger Stadium Saturday night magic and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Mobile quarterbacks make Nick Saban scream and turn red like nothing else in this world. Daniels fits the description to a tee. He's going to need to play 'Lets build a statue for him' great, LSU's freshmen offensive tackles will have to hold up against a ferocious Alabama pass rush, and please LSU, try to not have a misadventure on special teams. Cool?
It's been a while since Tiger Stadium and 100,000 insane Tiger fans built a wave that crashes into an opposing team like a tsunami. We are due.
LSU 34-31
Baltimore (-1.5) at New Orleans: Can Dennis Allen solve the riddle of the mobile quarterback? Lamar Jackson is probably keeping Dennis Allen up very late this week and he explained why, "They have been one of the better running football teams in our league. When the guy standing back there with the ball can run the football it makes it challenging because you are usually putting someone in a 2 gap conflict."
Basically, if Saints player does A, Lamar Jackson will do B. And Lord help the Saints' defense if the first guy misses the tackle. Fun.
The good news for the Saints is Baltimore may not have receiver Rashod Bateman and tight end Mark Andrews, which could really limit Jackson's options throwing the ball. The better news for the Saints is the Ravens secondary has suffered some injuries, including to former Saints safety Marcus Williams, so attacking Baltimore through the air should be possible.
This game feels a lot like the Cincinnati game to me. The Saints will play well, maybe even lead most of the way and then much like against Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson will find a way to break our hearts. Besides having a weekend where Tulane, LSU, and the Saints all win huge games seems unlikely.
Ravens 31-27
Los Angeles Chargers (-4) at Atlanta: Whatever happens here is good for the Saints. Falcons lose? Cool, the NFC South is still a dumpster fire. Falcons win? Chargers are more likely to fire underachieving head coach Brandon Staley and send the Saints a high draft pick for Sean Payton.
Chargers 35-21
Los Angeles Rams (+3) at Tampa Bay: I don't know if the Saints can still win the South, but I definitely know who will not... the Bucs and Tom Brady.