Saints vs Eagles NFL Playoffs Betting?
Saints Attempt to Exorcise Road Demons – Travel to Phili on Wild Card Saturday
The NFL Wild Card round kicks off this Saturday – the evening game features two teams that saw a resurgence this season – from brutal to formidable thanks largely to coaching.
NFC Wild Card Playoffs
New Orleans (11-5) at Philadelphia (10-6)
When: 8:10 PM ET, Saturday, January 4, 2014
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast: NBC
Saints vs. Eagles Betting Lines
New Orleans Saints +2½ -105 +121 Ov 53½ -110
Philadelphia Eagles -2½ -115 -141 Un 53½ -110
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For the Saints the return of Sean Payton from suspension has made all the difference in the world and for the Eagles, the hiring of Chip Kelly has transformed and revolutionized the way teams look at offense. A lot of the talk ahead of Sunday’s contest has been about New Orleans’ struggles on the road – 3-5 on the season and averaging just 18 points in those games.
The Eagles on the other hand hadn’t won at home in over a year before a four game home winning streak to end the year. Buckle up folks – Saturday’s game has all the makings of a classic.
The New Orleans Saints have a lot to prove Saturday – to themselves and their fans. Not only did they lose the NFC South crown to the surging Panthers down the stretch but they also lost home field advantage which could be enormous for this team in 2014.
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This game, as in all of New Orleans’ games will come down to Drew Brees – when he struggles the team rarely wins. The Saints averaged 25.9 points and a fourth best in the NFL 399.4 yards per game. Brees completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 5,162 yards with 39 touchdowns and 12 interceptions – ho hum and the Saints were a second best 307.7 passing yards per game. He has been spectacular in the playoffs, sporting a 22:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 103.9 passer rating while averaging 331 yards per in nine games. Jimmy Graham is a beast, Marques Colston rounded into form toward the end of the season and names like Robert Meachem and Kenny Stills each had a hand in making the Saints aerial attack so potent.
The Saints running game was OK this year – enough to keep opposing defenses honest. Pierre Thomas was the leading rusher with just 549 yards while also hauling in 77 receptions, Mark Ingram rushing for 4.9 yards per carry, and Darren Sproles averaged 4.2 yards per carry but also catching 71 passes.
But perhaps the biggest difference on this team was the defense – from historically bad to a top 5 overall unit thanks to coordinator Rob Ryan. The Saints defense was the fourth best overall in the NFL allowing 19 points per game and 305.7 yards as they were number two against the pass allowing just 194.1 passing yards per game. The Saints were middle-of-the road in rushing yards allowed (19th at 111.6 per game) – a positive matchup for LeSean McCoy. Defense will be an important cog this weekend against Philadelphia`s stellar offense.
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The Philadelphia Eagles are perhaps the best story in football this year. From Nick Foles` breakout season to Shady McCoy winning the rushing crown this year the Eagles became one of the most balanced and most feared offenses in the game. The Eagles offense was fourth best in the NFL in points scored with 27.6 per game and second in yards per game at 417.2 but they were led by the NFL’s best rushing attack which averaged 160.4 yards on the ground per game.
Nick Foles completed 64 percent of his passes with 27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions. LeSean McCoy won the NFL rushing title rushing for 1,607 yards and he also caught 53 passes out of the backfield. DeSean Jackson caught 82 passes for 1,332 yards while Riley Cooper caught 47 passes. The Eagles can and will beat you in a variety of ways offensively – they are a handful to try to game-plan against.
Defensively the Eagles allow 23.9 points and a 29th ranked 394.2 yards per game – not a good sign with Drew Brees coming to town. This is a unit that surrendered 358 yards to Kyle Orton last week – ugh! But they are plus 12 in turnover ratio. The Eagles have some talent on defense but looked horrendous at times this year. The good thing is that they gelled toward the end of the year and looked much better down the stretch.
Wild Card Weekend Football Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• Over is 8-1-1 in NO last 10 playoff games.
• NO are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 Sat. games.
• NO are 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games in January.
• PHI are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 Sat. games.
• PHI are 6-20-1 ATS in their last 27 home games.
• Under is 8-3-1 in PHI last 12 playoff games.
The experience edge obviously goes to Drew Brees and the Saints – that’s the difference Saturday. New Orleans’ strength plays right into the weakness of Philadelphia’s defense – Brees should have himself quite a game. The Eagles are amongst the worst in the league at time of possession – if you give Brees the ball – he will make you pay. Phili had a nice season but may be a year away.
Pick: New Orleans Saints +2 1/2
