The Gold Sheet

THE PLAY: New Orleans Saints +13.5 (-110)

How badly does New Orleans want to play spoiler? On the surface, the answer appears to be "pretty badly." Tampa Bay will clinch the NFC South with a win. The Saints' trio of Derek Carr, Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara all returned to some level of practice last week prior to the game against the Raiders, but none of the three ended up playing. You can certainly understand Carr's desire to play against his former team, but the other two were a little surprising. Running back Keandre Miller suffered a concussion and linebacker Jaylan Ford suffered a broken leg in that loss to the Raiders, further chopping an already-depleted roster. By all indications, Carr, Kamara and Olave are going to practice once again this week, and Olave is petitioning for an opportunity to play even though he still has not been medically cleared from his own concussion. Keep an eye on the status of that trio through out this week. If those three are on track to play, then this number is too high. Tampa Bay has only closed as a favorite of more than a touchdown one time this season: Last week against Carolina. The Bucs closed as a seven-point home favorite against the Raiders four weeks ago. The Raiders just closed a tick above a pick'em in New Orleans last week. So the betting market has already said that there is not much separating the Raiders and Saints. Why is Tampa Bay laying -7 against one and -13.5 against the other?