Wild Card Afterword: Eagles vs Saints

Darren Sproles gained 29 rushing yards on just 4 carries, but was more of
a threat in the passing games, picking up 31 yards on a team-high 4 catches.

Eric Meyer

The Saints finally got the road monkey off their back, getting a 32-yard field goal from Shayne Graham as time expired to lift them over the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-24. The win was a total team effort, as the running game and defense did their part to take the pressure off of Drew Brees and the passing game in the bitter cold on Saturday night.

I said Friday in my prediction for this game that Drew Brees is the best postseason quarterback in the NFL right now. I stand by that statement, but Brees didn’t put together his best performance. He had two first-half interceptions and gave the Eagles a short field, which set up a touchdown drive that gave Philadelphia a lead. However, the Saints defense dominated otherwise and kept New Orleans in it. They only trailed 7-6 at halftime.

In the second half, the Saints got the ball rolling. Drew Brees seemed to find a comfort zone and led a balanced attack down the field for two straight touchdown drives, one on a 24-yard pass to Lance Moore and another on a carry from Mark Ingram, who carried the load quite impressively in the stead of Pierre Thomas who sat out with a chest injury. Ingram finished with 97 yards on 18 carries and looked like the feature back New Orleans hoped he’d be when they traded up to draft him in the first round three seasons ago.

Finally, the Eagles offense came alive. Keenan Lewis, who had shut down DeSean Jackson the entire game, left with a head injury in the third quarter and the Eagles were able to find a rhythm by connecting on some plays to Jackson and picking on backup corner Rod Sweeting. They put up 17 points on their next three drives to take a 24-23 lead with 4:54 left in regulation.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Saints got a spark from Darren Sproles, who returned the kick to around the 40-yard line in addition to 15 extra yards for a horse collar tackle on Cary Williams. The Saints were then able to pick up a handful of first downs to move into chip-shot field goal range and, more importantly, run the clock down to zero on the final snap. Graham nailed the routine kick and the Saints got their first road playoff win in franchise history. They’ll head to Seattle for the divisional round, where they hope to avenge a Monday night beat down they received in Week 13 of the regular season.

Note: The Saints’ win improved my mark to 2-0 this postseason, but it should be noted that I, like Cory, have a history of going 2-0 on Wild Card Saturday only to follow it up with an 0-2 showing on Sunday. So don’t expect wins from Cincinnati or San Francisco tomorrow.

Final Score:

New Orleans Saints – 26

Philadelphia Eagles – 24

2014 Wild Card Preview: Eagles vs Saints

Cory Puffett

New Orleans Saints at Philadelphia Eagles

January 4 – 8:10pm (NBC)

This is the only wild card game that is not a rematch from the regular season. It is also the only game this weekend that does not feature at least one team that made the postseason last year.

The Saints’ road struggles have been well documented this season. In fact, most of you know that New Orleans is 0-3 in road playoff games under Sean Payton. Perhaps you don’t know that they have lost all five playoff games away from home in franchise history. They say “the sixth time is the charm.”

Philly has been on fire of late. They had one big hiccup in Minnesota a few weeks ago, but with the way they rebounded against Chicago the following week, I don’t think that loss to Matt Cassel should be a major concern.

The Eagles have won 7 of their last 8 games. The thing that does have me concerned is that the only good team they played in that stretch was Arizona, who they only beat 24-21 despite playing at home. Sure they beat the Packers in that stretch, but those were the Scott Tolzien Packers, they don’t count as a “good team.”

The good news for the Saints is that clear skies are expected for Saturday night in Philly. It will be cold, but no one is calling for rain or snow yet.

Aside from the home field factor, the two teams are pretty evenly matched on paper. The Saints have the better defense, even if they do struggle a little more against the run than Philadelphia. The Eagles are a much better run team on offense and have been just about on par with New Orleans in the pass game since Nick Foles took over.

But there are a couple of statistical categories that New Orleans is clearly the better team in. The Saints have given up the fewest first downs in the league while the Eagles are the worst of the playoff teams in that category. New Orleans is also one of the better teams in the league in getting off the field on third down. Of this year’s playoff crop, only New England is worse than Philly in terms of opponents’ third down percentage.

As I mentioned in my earlier preview, I will be making my official predictions for the wild card games later in the week. I really don’t know who I’m leaning toward for this one, so wish me luck.

Puff's Pick:

Will be added after the Football Freaks podcast is published on Friday.

Sunday Football Afterword: Cowboys vs Eagles

Bryce Brown had just two touches, but one went for Philadelphia's
last touchdown, the game-winner against Dallas to send Philly to the playoffs.

Cory Puffett

Different quarterback, same result. The Dallas Cowboys have played in three straight Week 17. They have lost all three and have finished each season 8-8.

Kyle Orton started Sunday night’s game after Tony Romo had back surgery earlier in the week. Orton turned in an admirable performance, all told. He completed 30 of 46 passes for 358 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. He hit DeMarco Murray on a lot of check down passes early in the game to get into a rhythm.

Orton came up big late in the game when he found Dez Bryant on a 4^th down touchdown pass, but failed to convert on the ensuing two-point conversion when he tried to go back to Bryant.

Nick Foles may crash and burn in future seasons, but he has been amazing this year. He finishes the regular season with 27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions while going 8-2 in ten starts.

Chip Kelly led the Eagles to a 10-6 season in his first year as a head coach in the NFL. His “gimmick” offense finishes the season ranked in the top 10 in both rushing and passing. The defense struggled this season. It was ranked 30^th against the pass and barely in the top 15 against the run, but that could be in part because the offense ranked dead last in time of possession. The Eagles averaged 1:15 less possession time than the next worst team in that statistical category.

Philadelphia’s defense struggles don’t matter, though, as they won in Dallas to hand the Cowboy’s their only division loss of the season. Foles had a passer rating of 124.4 and LeSean McCoy gained 131 yards on 27 carries. He set the Eagles’ single-season rushing yards record as well as the team’s single-season yards-from-scrimmage record.

McCoy caught the first touchdown pass of the game early in the second quarter. Brent Celek caught Foles’s second scoring throw late in the second quarter and led the team in receiving yards with 71.

The Eagles will host the New Orleans Saints on Wild Card Saturday, January 4 at 8:10 p.m. The game will be shown on NBC. Look for my preview of that game later this week.

The 2013 regular season is now over. Enjoy the playoffs! I know I will.

Final Score:

Philadelphia Eagles – 24

Dallas Cowboys – 22

Sunday Football Afterword: Eagles vs Bears

Brandon Boykin added a score to the offense's six touchdown with a
54-yard pick-6 off Jay Cutler in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's win.

Cory Puffett

After the results of the earlier games on Sunday, there wasn’t much meaning to Sunday night’s matchup between the Eagles and Bears. The exception was that Chicago could clinch the NFC North with a win in the City of Brotherly Love.

Instead, the Eagles handed the Bears a huge loss by hanging 54 points, the most any team has scored on the Bears since Detroit hung 55 on them in 1997.

Jay Cutler struggled in one of the few Week 16 games that did not have adverse weather conditions. To be fair though, it was hardly all his fault. Chicago’s offensive line did little to stop Philadelphia’s front seven. Cutler was sacked five times for 46 lost yards. Matt Forte and Michael Bush combined for just 49 yards on 16 carries.

Philly’s offense had no such problems. They scored 21 points each in the first and fourth quarters. Nick Foles completed 21 of 25 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

LeSean McCoy has 18 carries for 133 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Bryce Brown added 115 yards and a score on nine carries. Chris Polk also scored on the ground as the Eagles gained 289 yards and four rushing touchdowns on 36 carries. That’s a team average of 8.0 yards per carry!

Sunday night’s loss sets up an NFC North Championship next Sunday for the Bears and Packers in the Windy City. The storyline we’ll all be following this week is whether Aaron Rodgers is cleared to return for that game.

If Rodgers is inactive, Matt Flynn will make his fourth start of the season and he has shown signs of improvement every week, even in Sunday’s 38-31 loss to Pittsburgh. Eddie Lacy adds balance to Green Bay’s offense and could help them pose similar issues to Chicago’s defense as what they saw in Philly on Sunday night.

Philadelphia will play a second straight Sunday night game in the 2013 regular season finale, an NFC East Championship in Dallas. The Eagles hold a one-game lead on the Cowboys, but Dallas owns the most important tiebreakers, so a win will put Dallas in the playoffs and keep Philadelphia home for the new year.

Final Score:

Chicago Bears – 11

Philadelphia Eagles – 54