Previewing 2019 Divisional Round matchup for Eagles against Saints
By Jake Starr
Prediction
Call it a miracle, call it luck, or call it what you want, but the Eagles are one of eight teams still alive in the NFL playoffs. It took an injured quarterback, three straight wins, help from the Bears, a fourth-down touchdown pass, and then a “double doink” to get the Eagles to this point.
But as crazy as it all seems, we have all learned to not count out the Eagles at this point. Everything could be going against them, but they still find a way to pull it out. A lot of credit has to go to “the worst 2016 head coach hire” in Pederson.
On paper, the Saints are obviously the better team. They went 13-3, are the NFC’s No. 1 seed, and throttled the Eagles 48-7 back in November. On the other hand, the Eagles finished the year 9-7 and barely made the playoffs. It seems the Eagles are playing on borrowed time that is bound to run out.
But momentum is a crazy thing, as the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals showed a few years back. The Eagles are hot, and there is just something about this team right now that has fans feeling good about them. It feels that vibe they had last year is back just at the right time.
Things could go according to plan and the Saints will easily dispose of the Eagles and take their rightful spot in the NFC Championship game. But, the Eagles aren’t going to go down easily. It is going to be very tough to beat this Eagles team right now.
Both quarterbacks, who attended Westlake High School in Texas, are Super Bowl MVPs, so they know what it takes to get to that level, and the same could be said about their respective coaches. One is a Hall of famer, and the other is Foles, perhaps one of the most clutch postseason quarterbacks in NFL history.
This is going to be a high scoring game as both offenses can put up points. The Eagles’ offense is going to be better than the last time these two teams met, and so will their defense. The Eagles ability to get stops on defense will be the determining factor in who wins this game.
This game will be close and may come down to which team makes a big play late. Not saying this game is a toss-up, but at this point, it feels like it could go either way.
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You can give me 99 reasons to choose the Saints in this game, but I can give you one reason to choose the Eagles, and that reason is Foles, who at this point has shown that you can’t pick against him. With this in mind, let’s roll with the Eagles until they prove otherwise.