Divisional Playoff Preview: Eagles at Saints

With so much Eagles playoff hype right now, I started sifting through some Super Bowl articles written by The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News. I found an interesting piece written by Sam Donnellon of the Daily News. The title was “We’re Bitter, with Good Reason,” explaining the excruciating pain of being a Philadelphia sports fan season after season to the general public not residing anywhere near Pennsylvania’s most populated city. This paragraph sums up the article quite well: “Try being from Philadelphia. Try fending off the snobs from New York and the bureaucrats from Washington who treat your city the birthplace of our country, like a rest stop. Try waiting for your time to come year after year after year, as your children are born, grow up, and move on to separate lives.”

Now I am bitter with a good reason. It is now the Philadelphia Eagles vs. America’s team, the New Orleans Saints. It does not bother me at all that the public and the greater media is riding the epic story of this team that has risen like a phoenix from the ashes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The turn-around from worst-to-first certainly is a wonderful story because it gives the New Orleans a reason for hope. The team’s success is the community’s success, and I couldn’t be happier for them. Katrina was one of the worst disasters in American history and destroyed the normal lives of so many people that I am glad they are getting so much support all over the country.

What irks me is the bias of the sports experts. By no means do I want to take away from the success of this team, but it seems like no one is giving the Eagles a chance. Everywhere I look, the pick is the Saints. Late Sunday night, Sean Salisbury, Mr. I-Show-A-Picture-of-my-Penis-to-Women-at-the-Workplace, takes the Saints because the Eagles are beaten up after the Giants game. On Sportscenter the following night, Boomer Esiason predicted the Saints would win as well because the Eagles were limping into the game. Dr. Z of SportsIllustrated.com backed the same point. And the Z man’s colleagues have given a unanimous vote in favor of the Saints over Eagles.

In fact, I have been hard-pressed to find anyone, outside of the Philadelphia area, who has picked the Eagles to win this game. A computer on sportsline.com called Harmon was the only thing out of all the listed experts to call for the Eagles upset. And the only other person I happened to stumble upon was a senior analyst on NFL.com.

So what are the reasons for the Saints to win? They boast the number one offense in the league. They are coming off the franchise's first ever bye week, and the Eagles are hurting, even limping into this game. They have so many weapons on offense that this Eagles defense can not shut down one player without another stepping up. All of these are very viable reasons to go with America's team. If this weren't the Eagles playing them, I would be pulling for the Saints as well.

But I must say, these experts have pushed this sports decision to the extreme with such an undisputed decision to write off the Eagles. Philadelphia can win this game. The experts back the Saints with their impressive offense, but the Eagles have the number two overall offense in the rest of the league. Remember that this was done without Donovan McNabb for the latter part of the season as Jeff Garcia took over under center.

While the Saints have been resting for this upcoming game thanks to a bye week as the number two seed, the Eagles have come off a resounding, yet apparently harsh victory. Pro-Bowl Lito Sheppard was injured with a dislocated elbow and cannot play on Saturday night. This is the only injury that is serious for the Eagles, with the exception of the knee problem of fullback Thomas Tapeh. No one on this Eagles team is injured otherwise. This is perhaps the healthiest team that the Eagles have had in the playoffs in some time. And don't worry about Brian Westbrook--he's over his stomach virus.

The Saints have too many weapons, but so do the Eagles. The wide receivers and tight ends are emerging as a serious threat in multiple ways. Not only can these players catch, but they can block as well, as evidenced by Westbrook's 49-yard touchdown run. The receivers and tight ends did an exceptional job of blocking downfield after the offensive line sprung the running back loose. In addition, Donte Stallworth and Reggie Brown are not push-overs in the passing game. Stallworth caught a touchdown last week as Brown led all receivers with 7 receptions for 73 yards.

And then there is the offensive line and Brian Westbrook, who is starting to make a name for himself as a feature back. He was the proto-Reggie Bush player as he has been lined up as both a running back and wide receiver throughout his career. Correll Buckhalter, the back-up running back, gives the team a short-yardage back that is bigger than Westbrook. The Eagles have been known to line them both up in the backfield, giving defenses a nightmare of a situation as to who to cover or what playcall will be. So the Saints' defense should be trembling as well.

In my head, these teams are evenly matched, but the Saints have the advantage of home-field and a crowd that will be down-right out of their minds. I would say this is a problem except this Eagles team went to three straight divisional opponents stadiums and came out victorious. They have also been down to New Orleans earlier this season so they know what to expect from the crowd. This team is confident and cool at crunch time as evidenced by the win over the Giants last week.

It should also be emphasized that this is not the same team that visited the Big Easy earlier in the season. The offensive play-calling will be more balanced and less focused on the big play. Joe Horn, if he plays, and the other Saints receivers may not be slipping by the secondary as easily with Michael Lewis being used mainly as a line-backer. The defense has been forcing turnovers that have been at critical times and have resulted in points. And finally, the Eagles have been on a roll, winning 6 games in a row by large margins and small, regardless of where they were playing.

For these reasons, the Eagles will win down in New Orleans. Jeff Garcia will run a mistake-free offense again and put the ball in the hands of the Ultimate Weapon, Brian Westbrook, early and often to keep the Saints offense off the field. The defense should force a key turnover or two as they did last time, and that was without the game tapes of the Saints' losses to Baltimore and Washington, which should provide defensive co-ordinator Jim Johnson with a scheme to confuse this offense that uses three-step drops to avoid blitz pressure. This Saints team is vulnerable when they commit turnovers. And that will be the difference in the game for the Eagles as they soar to another NFC Championship Game.

Prediction:
Eagles 34 Saints 24

Bonus Reason:
If you don't believe my analysis, at least take a look at Bill Simmons and his guide to deciding on which team to take in a playoff game. I realize it pertains to gambling, but most of the these rules directly apply to the Eagles if you take them into consideration. So if you don't believe me, at least believe the Sport Guy.