Jaguars vs. Saints line, odds and predictions: Our experts are split on Jacksonville and New Orleans

The Jacksonville Jaguars look to stay hot when they face the New Orleans Saints on “Thursday Night Football.” The Jaguars (4-2) have won three in a row and lead the AFC South but are slight underdogs on the road against a Saints (3-3) team that has lost three of its last four.  The Saints are a small favorite.

Week 7 kicks off on Thursday from the Caesars Superdome in the Big Easy at 8:15 p.m. ET. Amazon Prime Video will provide the broadcast. After a successful extended stay in London, the Jaguars returned home and didn’t appear jet-lagged at all in a 37-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The Jags were outgained by a wide margin (354-233) but forced four turnovers and were pretty much in control of this contest throughout.

Jacksonville didn’t make it out of the game completely unscathed, however. Trevor Lawrence twisted his knee on a late sack when the outcome was already decided. It doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue, but it is worth watching. Lawrence is listed as questionable for Thursday after being limited in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Running back Travis Etienne Jr. has four rushing touchdowns in the last two games, and he may be asked to carry more of the load. Either way, Jacksonville will need to be able to run and throw the ball to have success against a New Orleans defense that ranks fifth in the NFL in yards allowed (278.3 per game) and is only giving up 16 points per game.

The issue for the Saints has been with their offense. In three losses, they have managed a total of 39 points. They scored 34 alone in a shutout of the New England Patriots two weeks ago. Derek Carr had a season-best 353 passing yards last week, but he needed 50 attempts (had 32 completions) to get there. He also had just one touchdown pass in the 20-13 loss to the Houston Texans and has five in six games.

Even with Alvin Kamara back from suspension, the running game has been inconsistent. There have been two games with more than 130 rushing yards and four with 89 or fewer. The longest running play of the season has gained 19 yards, and as a team, the Saints are averaging 3.4 yards per carry.

Things may not improve this week, considering Jacksonville is third in the league in rushing defense (75.3 yards allowed per game). The Jaguars are on the opposite end of the spectrum vs. the pass (270.3 yards per game, 31st), so this could be another game where Carr has to do the heavy lifting for his team.

The Saints will be without starting tackles Ryan Ramczyk and Landon Young in this game.

All odds from BetMGM. Looking for NFL tickets? Buy them here.