Monday Night Football Afterword: Saints vs Eagles

The Saints continued their trend of big wins on
Monday Night Football.

Last night was the first time this season the Eagles have played in Primetime and boy was it an eye opener. I knew that Philadelphia’s offensive line was hurt and not performing well, and I had seen plenty of replays, but the Monday Night game was the first game this season where I got to see just how bad the Eagles’ offensive line is for 60 minutes.

The Eagles had four red zone possessions. Two ended with field goals and two ended in turnovers, one a tipped pass pick-six that dug an early hole.

New Orleans defense was as porous as they have been all season. They gave up big yards when Philadelphia did run the ball with McCoy, and on pass plays there were receivers wide open on nearly every play. Why, then, did the Eagles not win the game? Because, my friends, of the offensive line.

Vick is the easiest scapegoat to go after, behind Andy Reid, but after displaying it for the nation to see last night, the offensive line is most deserving of blame. I said before the Philly receivers were all but running wild in the secondary last night; it’s true, I’m not exaggerating. But Vick was being hit well within two seconds on over 75% of his drop-backs.

The few times Vick did get time to throw, he made good passes or he made plays with his feet, showing to me that he is as athletic as ever.

But the Saints won, and I’m not one to place so much blame on the losing team that I take away credit from the winning team; at least not usually (I’m still not fully buying into the Bears just yet).

New Orleans still had to generate a good pass rush. Granted it didn’t take much to create pressure, but they ran good blitz packages and their secondary did adequately against one of the most athletic receiving corps in the NFL.

The Saints’ offense was as good as ever. Drew Brees extended plays with his feet, delivered accurate passes, and his receivers made the catches. I will never take away from the accuracy of Drew Brees, but sometimes, because he is so accurate, he puts passes into small windows and it never ceases to amaze me how many of those passes his receivers come up with. These passes he throws require absurd amounts of concentration on the receiving end and I don’t think any other group of receivers would be as successful with Brees as this one is.

The Saints were the better team last night, by far. After starting 0-4, they have won three of their last four to get back into the playoff hunt. In fact, the Saints sit just a game and a half out of a wild-card spot. They face the undefeated Atlanta Falcons at home next week. The Eagles also play at home next week, against the Dallas Cowboys who are in much the same position as they are in the NFC playoff hunt.