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It'll be close in the 1st half, then both teams will explode for points in the second, though one team will decidedly score more).

What a difference this week from last week in the prediliction thread!

Something like 99.9% thought of an Eagles victory last week. This week - it seems closer to 10% Eagles, 90% Saints.

Just checked it again - more like 50-50, but for this site, that is about as pessimistic as it gets.

Brees 28
Gay QB 21

As EAG said, who'd have thought they'd go this far?

Katrina 31
Carmella 21

Hey, the Eagles are playing with house money.

This is fun.

And if they manage to pull it out, I'll be downright giddy.

Hey, the Eagles are playing with house money.

i dont buy that rationalization AT ALL. you only get so many chances to get into the playoffs and make a run.

this season, the eagles got hot at the exact right point in the season, are playing in an exceptionally mediocre conference and have every chance, if they play well, to get to the superbowl.

i dont consider that a "house money" situation - quite the opposite, that's an alignment of fortuitous events that needs to be seized upon.

"I think Birds weather the early emotion and high tempo then the game settles down and it turns into a field goal fest.


Bourbon St-16
South St-19 "


The Hulk practically read my mind in his post, so no need to say it all again. just give him his due and hope we're right.

The Eagles won last week because the Giants simply aren't very good.

If the offense takes a quarter to wake up and Brees gets the ball in Eagles territory after every punt the Birds won't be so fortunate this time.

The only thing that is keeping me optimistic is that Brees lost his only playoff game to a nondescript Jets team, and that was with LDT and Gates (Although you can blame the Chargers D, Kaeding, and Martyball for that one)

Saints - 31
Eagles - 21

UGH. I meant the Chargers Special Teams, not D.

I would have been confident in the Birds' chances heading into this game, but the Lito injury has changed all of that. I just can't see the current Birds' secondary being able to hang with Colston, Devery Henderson, Joe Horn, and Terrance Copper, not to mention Bush and McCallister. Plus, I seem to recall the Saints ran a few plays for the tight end last time round, and you can't forget about that fullback Karney who scored 3 TDs in the Dallas game. Put all of that against a weak passrush, and you're looking at a lot of weapons and a lot of headaches for the Eagles' defense.

I think the Eagles offense will score their points, but I don't have confidence in the defense to stop the Saints' potent O.

Wiz wit' - 23
Roast Beef Po' Boy with Debris - 30

a battle between towns with the 2 most ignorant mayors in U.S. history:

nagins 27
streets 17

Tough game, hopefully the Eagles can score enough points.

Birds - 31
Saints - 28

To quote Funky...



Eagles 30
Saints 27

I do buy the “house money” theory, f4f – they won when the odds were against them, and also from the standpoint that everybody thinks they’re gong to lose Saturday (Level excluded, and as DGB7 said, even that’s about 50-50).

I look back at the Saints game in October, and totally buy into the Dallas hangover theory. Sacks, penalties, the muffed punt at the end of the first half, 12 men on the field on the last drive, no sacks by the D – just a brutal game by the hungover Eagles. They’re obviously playing better football right now, and I don’t see a repeat performance of the October game.

Might be bad news, but I feel better going into this one than I did last week against the Vagiants.

Eagles 27
Saints 17

And I cannot get enough of that chick . . .

Think the party is over on Saturday night.

Negatives

Crowd noise
Short week + coming off a very physical game against the Giants.
Saints 2 weeks off

Positives

Westbrook
Carmella DeCesare

Saints 27
Eagles 13


Thanks for another good season Eagles.

Ugly, ugly confrontation between Birdman and the Athletic Moses.

The Eagles played a weak Giants team last week but the game was close enough that they shouldn't be overconfident going into this one.

I think the Birds play well, but just fall short. The Saints just have too much offensive firepower and Sean Payton knows his way around Jim Johnson's defense like Reid knows his way around a cheesesteak.

Bush: 28
Westbrook: 24

Rumor around here is that Peyton spent the better part of the bye week playing toilet to the trannies off Bourbon Street. I don't think they'll really be prepared.

Saints come in hyped, but don't really understand how to play a playoff game with too little real playoff experience on the roster and the coaching staff. Early lead gets chipped away and this one isn't really in question by the middle of the 3rd quarter. For once, we all think that the FB and his staff outprepared and outcoached another pro staff.

Goombas - 31
Gumbos - 17

Iggs-31
Aints-13

I had some time to kill, so I wanted to toss in my evaluation of why I'm going the way I am.

Matchups:
Saints
Skill Positions:
Drew Brees
Joe Horn
Marques Colston
Deuce McCalister/Reggie Bush
Mark Karney
Mark Campbell

Solid group with minimal if any big game/playoff experience. Horn's been hurt and is questionable. Terrance Copper plays if he doesn't, which is a big downgrade. Great potential in the backfield, but considering the slow start and the off week, they could end up cold or with butterflies.

OLine:
Jammal Brown
Jamar Nesbit
Jeff Faine
Jahri Evans
Jon Stinchcomb

Solid play but little star power outside of Brown's Proball year. Not a ton of experience in the playoffs. Could get abused with some of the schemes that could come out of JJ's head.

Defense
Front 7
Charles Grant
Will Smith
Brian Young
Hollis Thomas
Scott Fujita
Mark Simoneau
Scott Shanle

Smith having a Proball year can be A couple have some playoff experience but it hasn't been excellent. Could be abused by a well performing healthy front 5 from Philly. Most of their tackles came from outside linebackers, and their inside runstopper is Simawho.

Secondary:
Mike McKenzie
Omar Stoutmire
Josh Bullocks
Fred Thomas

Stoutmire is also questionable, which means over the top plays could end up going for big gains with Steve Gleason covering it. McKenzie is still good and has experience, but can be avoided, and he's not as good as he once was.

Kickers/ST
John Carney
Steve Weatherford
Michael Lewis

Carney has a ton of experience including playoffs, so he should be effective. Punting may not be a strongpoint, but Lewis still has a very fast topspeed and can break them, even if he is getting older.

Philadelpha
Skill positions:
Jeff Garcia
Reggie Brown
Donte' Stallworth
Brian Westbrook
Thomas Tapeh
LJ Smith

Garcia may not have a Brown or a McCallister to hand off to, but each of these guys has played above a mediocre season. Brown and Stallworth can get open and get yards after the catch, along with providing run blocking and going over the middle. Westbrook healthy and Blunt spelling him could provide a at least a modest if not possibly better running attack. These guys are streaky, so they could go either way. Westbrook, Garcia and Smith have all had good amounts of big game time.

OLine:
Tre Thomas
Todd Herremens
Jamaal Jackson
Shawn Andrews
John Runyan

Underhyped and oversized, this group can both run block and pass protect. They are the reason Garcia has had the time to really throw, and having played all season together they have gotten better each week. Some of them haven't played a big game yet, but some have played in more than their share. Several of them have made the Probowl in the past, and Andrews is a starter this year.

Defense:
Front 7
Trent Cole
Darwin Walker
Mike Patterson
Darren Howard
Dhani Jones
Jeremiah Trotter
Omar Gaither

Big, strong and physical, some of them have underperformed expectations but they can step it up when they need to. There are a few holes there, and some of them lack playoff experience, but every one of them that hasn't is playing alongside someone who has.

Secondary
Rod Hood
Sheldon Brown
Brian Dawkins
Sean Considine

While not as strong due to Lito's injury, this group matches up well against the Saints' skill players, as a star corner is out compared to a hampered if playing at all star WR. Colston vs Brown will be a big matchup. Dawkins vs Brown will likely also be very interesting as it is likely Dawk will move up to cover him if he splits out. Considine has played well, and Lewis, despite his benching, has played well when needed. A spattering of playoff experience among them will help a ton.

Kickers
David Akers
Dirk Johnson
Reno Mahe

Akers has done well enough in the playoffs, and with his holder back should be solid. Johnson has been effective in and out of pressure and his lack of overall experience shouldn't be a problem. Talentwise, they match up well. Mahe may not turn the ball over, but he's hardly breaking a big run.

Overall:
Skill matchups seem to slighly favor the Eagles, while the trenches seem to be a bit better. Key matchups are going to come down to who the Saints put on Westbrook (and who that opens up) along with how well Reggie Bush holds up in a bigtime playoff game against the Eagles' secondary. We all know how Bush peformed the last time he was in a big game (thank you Texas).

THANKS LyteInc!!!

I predict a good game that will end in heartache.

Was ready to post my predication, but I aint followin' that.

I'll predict when this thread moves to a page that won't get me fired.

Give it a shot now uber...you should be up on top of the next page with your post.

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