Sports

Week 2 - New Orleans Saints: Philadelphia Eagles Preview

Judging from my previous articles regarding the Philadelphia Eagles you would think that I would be calling for the New Orleans Saints to blow out the Eagles this Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Not so fast.

There are many, many factors to consider in this intriguing matchup. Let’s start with the Saints offense against the Eagles defense. Yes, Drew Brees threw six TDs last week, but that was against the Detroit Lions. I think the Lions’ last win was in the 90s. Or maybe it just seems that way. This week Brees and Co. have to face a far more formidable defense in the Eagles.

The strength of the Eagles defense is its defensive backs. CBs Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown are both capable of taking a WR out of the game. Safety Quintin Mickel has proven to be exceptional in pass coverage. Rookie Macho Harris at Free Safety is the great unknown here. I am going to go ahead and assume that we will know much more after this game. Unlike the Panthers, who run the ball and only pass when necessary, the Saints like to air it out constantly. Bress also likes to spread the ball around; so backup CBs Ellis Hobbs and Joselio Hanson will also be earning their paychecks this week. The biggest area of concern here is the sloppy tackling this unit displayed in week 1. Yeah, I’m talking to you Asante.

The problem that the Eagles may run into here is that the Saints have better receivers than the Panthers. The Panthers only real threat is Steve Smith, so the Eagles were able to constantly double him and hold him to 21 yards on 3 catches. The Saints don’t have anybody on Smith’s level, but they spread the ball around every game anyway. Marques Colston is their #1, but he’s not somebody a defensive coordinator game plans for. When you consider that Jeremy Shockey tormented the Eagles over the years when he was a Giant, you have reason to be worried. I am not a fan of the Eagles LBs and I fear that Shockey is going to make them look foolish this Sunday. He also might catch a long pass down the seam on a play action fake if Harris is fooled. At least Quitin Demps’ stupid ass has been ruled out for this week, so he can’t do something incredibly stupid. Again, Brees is in another universe of QB talent that Jake Delhomme can only dream of. The Eagles D-backs better bring their A-game or Brees will shred them.

The Saints will most likely be without RB Pierre Thomas again this week, but the Saints don’t bother with the run much anyway, so what’s the difference. Mike Bell looked great in week 1, but again that was against a terrible Lions defense. Reggie Bush is a complete bust as a runner, but he is a weapon out of the backfield as a receiver. This is another area of concern for the Eagles. The Eagles LBs will not be able to cover Bush. I do look forward to watching the replay on the stadium video boards of the play where Sheldon Brown literally knocked the spit out of Reggie Bush in the playoffs in 2006. It rivals the hit Keith Byers put on the Giants’ Pepper Johnson way back when (look it up on youtube).

The Eagles D-line looked good against the Panthers last week, because they only had to worry about rushing the passer after the first quarter. That makes the game whole lot easier. Drew Brees uses a ton of three-step drops, which makes it harder to get to the QB without the blitz. We’re going to see just how good this unit is on Sunday.

I will be making my beer and bathroom breaks in the stadium on Sunday whenever the Eagles offense is on the field. I will get up and imitate Officer Barbrady from South Park, “Nothing to see here. Move along.” Why would I do that? Kevin Kolb.

I know it’s not really fair to bury Kevin Kolb on the limited time he has spent on the field, but he has looked really bad in that limited time. Let’s face it, he sucks. Andy Reid blew another draft pick. “Nothing to see here. Move along.” I don’t care what the Eagles say, McNabb aint playing. I give McNabb credit for playing hurt in the past, but the team knows that he can’t play with broken ribs. At least he can’t play well. The real question then becomes, can he play better than a healthy Kevin Kolb? The answer just might be who can’t play better than a healthy Kevin Kolb.

That is why I fully expect to see newly signed Jeff Garcia behind center in the 2nd half. Oh sure, the Eagles say they signed him because he knew the offense, but it’s obvious even to the Eagles coaches that Kolb sucks. The only way Garcia doesn’t get into this game is if the Eagles defense is much better than I thought or they are afraid of hurting McNabb’s delicate flower feelings by using Garcia and starting a QB controversy. Or maybe Momma McNabb threatened to not make Andy Reid any more Chunky Soup and Andy doesn’t want to upset her.  Damned Chunky Soup Curse.

I’ve read where the Eagles should or would run the ball more since they will be starting a backup QB. Just another example of how completely clueless the national media is when it comes to Andy Reid and the Eagles. Anyone with eyes knows that Andy Reid likes to run the ball about as much as he likes running on a treadmill. The Eagles aren’t going to run the ball. They never do. The only exception is in situations like last week, when they have a big lead. And even then the split is almost 50-50. Westbrook will only get about 12 carries, but I think he’ll get a lot of passes thrown his way as well. McCoy hardly saw the field in the 1st quarter against the Panthers, so it looks like the Eagles are riding Westbrook hard as long as his brittle knees can hold up. The over/under is week 9 for Westbrook to miss a game.

The Eagles WRs did almost nothing last week and with the rag-armed Kolb at QB this week, I don’t expect much from them this week either. I told you Jeremy Maclin wouldn’t do anything in his rookie year and his zero catches in week 1 are making that prediction look pretty good. The fact that DeSean Jackson now has as many TDs as a punt returner (2) as he does as a WR is not a reassuring stat. With Kendra Wilkinson out of town now that her husband Hank Basket was cut, that leaves Reggie Brown as the biggest bust among the WR corps.

The offensive line caught a major break last week when the Eagles blew the game open on Special Teams and defense last week. You could almost see the Panthers quit after that. Hell, you actually could see Julius Peppers quit. I know he wants out of town and is getting paid about 15 million this year, but didn’t it seem like he was on the sideline an awful lot last week? If the Saints get up, as expected, the Saints D-line will be able to go hunting for QBs. In this scenario, LT Jason Peters should get about 4 false start penalties, while RT Winston Justice gives up about 3 or 4 sacks. I also just read that the other Andrews sister, I mean brother, has lost his starting job at RG. Great signing there Andy. 6-year $40-million deal for a guy who will “rotate in at guard?” Genius.

There are also some interesting intangibles in this game. The Saints are a bad road team. They were 2-6 last season, with their only wins being over Detroit and Kansas City. It’s true that dome teams don’t travel well. The Eagles have started a season 2-0 only once under Andy Reid. That was in 2004, when they started 7-0. That season went pretty well, but the main reasons for that are all on other rosters now.

There is no possible way that the Eagles defense has a repeat of the Carolina game…ever. That means the Saints will put up some points on the strength of Drew Brees’ arm. The question then becomes, can the Eagles offense keep pace. Maybe they could have with McNabb under center, but who in their right mind thinks Kevin Kolb can do it? He has shown nothing so far in his career and although the Saints’ defense is far from dominant, they will most likely be playing with a lead all game. That allows them to concentrate on getting to the QB on almost every play. That’s a difficult scenario for any quarterback.

The Eagles defense will keep the team in the game, but the offense won’t be able to keep up their end of the bargain as they lose to the Saints. Andy Reid will be forced to admit yet another in a long line of draft day blunders and the Kevin Kolb era will come to an end in Philly. Then the real fun will begin when McNabb has to deal with Vick and Garcia. I know I shouldn’t be happy about that, but these guys really do keep things interesting don’t they?

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