The New Orleans Saints will host the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Round. New Orleans locked up the number one seed and will have the luxury of playing their games at home. The Eagles will be on the road for the second straight week.
Philadelphia previously escaped with a win in Chicago after a missed field goal kept the magic of Nick Foles alive. That magic time might be running out as they prepare for a game in New Orleans.
The Eagles and Saints squared off in New Orleans on November 18. That game saw the Saints cruise to a 48-7 win. Drew Brees finished with 363 yards and four touchdowns while Carson Wentz threw three interceptions. Mark Ingram ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns while Alvin Kamara added 71 yards on the ground. The Eagles could not get anything going offensively and the Saints took advantage of a shaky defense.
The Eagles have had some playoff magic behind Nick Foles who will start this time around in New Orleans. There is a sense of confidence in the Philadelphia locker room when Foles takes the field, but this might be too much to overcome. The Eagles were able to survive against the Bears who do not feature a high powered offense. Against the Saints, that will change. This is not to say that it will be another 40-point game this weekend but the Saints should be able to win this game easily.
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
The Saints finished 6-2 at home this season. They lost their first game of the year to the Bucs and their last game to Carolina. Against the Panthers, the top-seed was already locked up so they gave their starters a rest. This is the toughest building in the league to go into and win. Having home-field advantage for the Saints was important in this playoffs because the likelihood of them winning goes up significantly at home.
New Orleans averaged 34 points per game at home this season. In the seven games started by Drew Brees, the Saints averaged 37 points per game at home. They scored 40 four times in games against the Bucs, Redskins, Rams and Eagles. The offense is seemingly unstoppable when playing at home thanks to their weapons. Michael Thomas along with Ingram and Kamara give the Saints multiple options.
Fans in New Orleans rally behind their team no other fan base. It would be hard to find a more passionate group. Who can forget how the entire city rallied around their football team after a terrible hurricane? Natives of New Orleans willed their team to a Super Bowl that season. In a playoff environment, it will be hard for any team to go into New Orleans and pick up a win. Especially one like the Eagles who has a defense that has been on the rocks.
Eagles Secondary
The Eagles sat at 4-6 and seemed to have no hope of making the playoffs. The defending Champs rallied and won five of their last six games. Of those five games, going on the road to Los Angeles and beating the Rams was the only impressive feat. Thanks to faulty scheduling, they had the luxury of playing a Redskins team who was decimated with injuries twice in the last five weeks. They also beat the Giants and Texans. They went to Chicago and played a stellar Bears' defense but their offense was not explosive. This fit into to Philadelphia's game plan perfectly.
The secondary of the Eagles suffered devastating injuries early in the season. Rodney McLeod, Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills all went out for the season which left the Eagles scrambling for answers. This led to their 40-point massacre in their first game in New Orleans. While the new group has been playing better, they are not a perfect bunch. The front-seven, led by Michael Bennett and Chris Long, have been dominant. They have been able to change games but when they face a team with a strong offensive line, that leaves their secondary exposed.
The Bears were not able to run the ball in their playoff match up which made Mitchell Trubisky have to throw the ball to win. After a Eagles touchdown gave them a 16-15 lead, the Bears received a long kick return that set them up. Allen Robinson then made two plays that put the Bears in field goal range against that shaky Philly secondary. The Saints possess an offensive style of quick hitters to their backs and slant patterns to their receivers. They use play-action well that can keep the Eagles off balance. The Saints offense versus the Eagles defense is not a good match up for Philadelphia.
Drew Brees
Drew Brees completed possibly his best season as a pro. He completed 74.7% of his passes which was the highest of his career. The 39-year old did not rack up the yards like he usually does but did finish with 32 touchdowns and five interceptions. This was the lowest number of picks for his career. If it was not for a young, explosive quarterback in Kansas City, Brees would be running away with the MVP award.
Behind him, this Saints offense ranked third in the league with 31.5 points per game. They averaged 379 yards per game which was eighth in the league. New Orleans featured one of the best receivers in the league in Thomas and a duel-threat back in Kamara who can do it all.
This is a game that could very well come down to quarterbacks. Foles turned it over twice against the Bears and it did not come back to haunt them because of Chicago's faulty offense. People said that during last year's Super Bowl when it was Foles against Tom Brady but this scenario is different. The Saints have a defense that is stronger than the Patriots was. This is a home game for New Orleans and not played on a neutral field. This is a match up between two Super Bowl winning quarterbacks but only one can be relied on. If it has to come down to quarterbacks making mistakes, Brees taking care of the ball at home is the safe bet.
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