NFL fans at Wembley weren’t treated to much of a contest last week when the Jacksonville Jaguars destroyed the Baltimore Ravens, but it’s expected to be a much tighter contest this week. Showcasing the NFL in London gives expat fans and potentially new fans a chance to see the best in the NFL and bettors will see two quality quarterbacks which have something to prove on Sunday.
Drew Brees got back on track when playing the Panthers last week, but there has been talk of Brees getting traded. Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler has the most to prove, however, as many Dolphins’ fans were calling for his head following their last loss. The bookmakers have this as a close game and it should give fans in Europe a good taste of what the NFL is all about.
Miami Dolphins form
The Dolphins started their season a week late due to the hurricane and it started well for them with a 19-17 win over the Chargers. That high was only temporary as a week later they lost poorly to the New York Jets and that form isn’t considered great to begin with. The Jets handled the Dolphins on defense and Jay Cutler looked like his old self at Chicago. He has thrown two touchdowns and one intercept, but he needs to do more on the offensive front.
He has completed 50 passes from 77 attempts for only 450 yards and it’s clear that he’s being instructed to only focus on short passes, but Cutler has an arm and it shouldn’t be underrated. Cutler has the ability to throw deep down field and that could give receivers like DeVante Parker plenty of chances for the big play. The Dolphins will be out to impress the Wembley fans on Sunday and bookmakers are expecting them to play well on the neutral ground.
New Orleans Saints form
The Saints come marching into this game full of confidence after beating the Carolina Panthers and beating them well. The start of the season couldn’t have gone any worse for the Saints, losing their first two games to the Vikings and the Patriots, but that tough opposition held them in good stead for playing the Panthers last week.
The result looked over in the early stages of the game as the Saints crushed their opposition 34-13 in a one-sided affair. Offensively, the Saints are one of the best teams in the NFL – averaging 385.7 yards per game this season and 24.3 points per game. Compared that to the 12.5 points per game scored by Miami and you can see why the Saints are favored for this game. Both defenses give up more points than they score, but the Saints have the ability to go down the field in quick time and that makes them a threat during the entirety of the game. The Saints have some problems at the offensive tackle position with two starting offensive tackles on the disabled list, but this will be an offensive game and there should be plenty of points.
Dolphins vs. Saints game tip
The Saints have a seemingly unlimited offense and that will make life tough for the Dolphins this week. They’re coming off a confidence-building win against the Panthers, which we rated as one of the best teams in the NFL this season. Dolphins fans would have been impressed with their performance in the opening week, but they were quick to lambast their team when losing to the Jets. A loss to the Jets at this stage of the season isn’t great as they were 0-2 when facing the Dolphins and for that reason we’re sticking with the form team in the Saints. Ladbrokes.com has the current points spread line at 3 and the Saints (-3 at 10/11) and despite the line suggesting this should be a close game, we think the Saints could roll by at least two touchdowns.