game info
game info
The Saints had their game of the year. That came back in Week 3 on Monday night at home in front of a national audience. Nobody was going to beat the Saints that night in their return to the Louisiana Superdome. This is just a regular game. No huge fanfare here. Just the hottest quarterback in the NFL, Donovan McNabb, facing a New Orleans secondary composed of inexperienced safeties and slow cornerbacks. The Saints have overachieved winning four of five games, which also is their record against the spread. Full credit to first-year head man Sean Payton. But the Saints aren?t going to keep up this pace. They?re just not that good. You could see it last week when the winless Buccaneers, going with a rookie quarterback making his first start, nearly upset the Saints in the Superdome. Bruce Gradkowski engineered three touchdown drives against the Saints, while throwing for 225 yards. That doesn?t bode well for New Orleans considering McNabb is averaging an NFL-high 320 yards throwing and has 11 touchdown passes. The Eagles? passing attack will be more effective if former Saints wideout Donte Stallworth (check status) can go this week. Reggie Bush scored the winning touchdown for New Orleans last week by returning a punt for a touchdown. Bush, though, actually has been outshined by his rookie teammate, wideout Marques Colston. Bush has rushed for just 170 yards, averaging just 34 yards running a game. He has yet to score a touchdown from the line of scrimmage. Deuce McAllister has been the Saints? main man on the ground. New Orleans? offensive line has played better than expected, but it?s built for a ground attack. If the Saints fall behind, they?re going to have problems because the Eagles have a fierce pass rush and an excellent blitz scheme under long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. This game very well could get on hand. The spread is low. The Saints are improved, but they aren?t at this level.