New Orleans Saints @ Philadelphia Eagles
Premium Pick: New Orleans +1 (2 units)
This will be an exciting matchup featuring two of the NFC’s most explosive offensive powerhouses. The Eagles managed to score 38 points against Carolina mainly because their defense forced 5 turnovers, meanwhile Drew Brees threw for 358 yards and 6 touchdowns to help the Saints generate 45 points against Detroit.
I like the Saints in this matchup for two main reasons. First, Donovan McNabb fractured a rib last week and will likely not play. This means that despite signing Jeff Garcia, Kevin Kolb will likely be the starting quarterback for the Eagles in their home opener. Kolb has little experience at the professional level since he has never started a game in his young career. His numbers are not fantastic by any means. He has completed 24/45 passes (53.3%) for 167 yards, 4 interceptions and no touchdowns.
The main issue with Kolb is his low yards per passing attempt. His career average is 3.7 yards and when he replaced McNabb last week he managed only 23 yards, completing 7 of 11 passing attempts. This means that Philadelphia’s offense will rely heavily on Brian Westbrook to keep chains moving. The other reason I like New Orleans in this one is because the Saints were sharp against the run last week allowing only 33 rushing yards to the Lions.
Obviously Philly’s ground attack is much more dangerous than Detroit’s but facing a very limited passing attack, the Saints will likely stack eight in the box forcing third and longs. The key to New Orleans’ success will be based on stopping the Eagles ground attack and putting points on the board. Fortunately, they are one of the strongest offensive teams in the league. If Drew Brees can limit his mistakes by not taking unnecessary risks and avoiding throwing the ball into heavy coverage, the Saints should have no problem taking this one.
Lay 2 units on the Saints.
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