Eagles/Saints Preview

It's currently halftime of the Ravens/Colts game, so far the most entertaining part of this 9-3 snoozer has been Dan Dierdorf referring to Ed Reed as "The Human Ball Magnet". Here I always thought that was Jeff Garcia. This after last week Al Michaels kept saying something about putting a finger in the dike.

With that in mind, let me take a stab at trying to figure out what will happen in tonight's game.





PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (11-6)
AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (10-6)
7 PM CST

SAINTS OFFENSE (1ST OVERALL, 19TH RUSH, 1ST PASS)
VS. EAGLES D (15TH OVERALL, 26TH R, 9TH P)

The Saints owe their success this year to their explosive passing game led by Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Joe Horn, and Reggie Bush. In this game, they might be better off trying to do most of their damage on the ground. The Eagles were gashed for 151 rushing yards in last week's win over the Giants, and the Saints are more than capable of doing the same thing if they want to. Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush are going to get an opportunity to shine on the national stage tonight.

ADVANTAGE- SAINTS

EAGLES 0 (2ND OVERALL, 11TH RUSH, 3RD PASS)
VS. SAINTS D (11TH OVERALL, 23RD R, 3RD P)

The Saints defense has been strong this year too. In the last game they played their regulars, they held the Giants to only 83 yards rushing, 59 yards passing, and an unfathomably low 27 plays from scrimmage. The Eagles defense looked nowhere near that strong against that same Giants team last week. Philly's offense is very balanced and very dangerous though, more so than they were when Donovan McNabb was at quarterback when the Saints beat the Eagles 27-24 earlier this year. Brian Westbrook got only 19 touches in that game. He'll get a lot more tonight, and he'll be dangerous.

ADVANTAGE- EAGLES

VARIOUS AND SUNDRY

The Saints packed in with nothing to play for in their finale against Carolina. That means it's been 3 weeks since they've played together for anything meaningful. That's never ever a good thing. Meanwhile, the Eagles have won 6 games in a row.

ADVANTAGE- EAGLES

HERE'S YOUR FORECAST

If last year taught us anything, it taught us not to underestimate a team in the playoffs who hasn't lost in two months. Last year, that team was the Steelers, this year, it's the Eagles. The Saints have been playing grab ass with each other for 3 weeks, while the Eagles have been winning critical games. I think the Eagles keep rolling in a very exciting matchup between the league's top 2 offenses.

EAGLES 30, SAINTS 27