NEW ORLEANS -1.5 over Philadelphia
Philadelphia vs. NEW ORLEANS UNDER 35 1/2
The Philadelphia Eagles will begin the healing process from their stunning home loss to Tampa Bay in the 2002 NFC Championship Game, when they open up their preseason slate against the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Monday night. Philadelphia has had six months to think about what could have been after falling to the Buccaneers, 27-10, in the Veterans Stadium football finale.
New Orleans will be looking to turn the page as well after coming apart at the seams down the stretch in 2002. The Saints missed the postseason after losing games to Minnesota, Cincinnati and Carolina in the final three weeks of the campaign. The same big-name players will be on the field here for New Orleans, albeit briefly. The QB rotation will consist of Aaron Brooks, Todd Bouman, Jeff Lewis and J.T. O'Sullivan who may see some late mop-up duty. That's a decent depth chart that shouldn't be too erratic. What New Orleans is really looking for at this point is a running back to relieve Deuce McAllister. They will also need much more from its defense as well, considering it surrendered 24.3 points per game last season.
The headline in Eagles' training camp hasn't been a good one, as their running back named "Duce, Mr. Staley, is locked in a stalemate with management over his contract. Staley is holding out in hopes that the team will give him an extension. Philadelphia simply wants him to play and honor his contract. This may not end soon, so coach Andy Reid has to prepare for that possibility. We also expect him to give his back-up RB's a good look. The quarterback rotation is one of the deepest in the league, with starter Donovan McNabb, and reserves Koy Detmer, A.J. Feeley, and Tim Hasselbeck.
It's not easy to go against such a solid set of signal callers in a pre-season game but we feel other factors weigh in the Saints favor here. Again, with both teams expected to run the ball quite a bit, the play of the quarterbacks won't quite be as big of a part of the game. This should also provide a lower-scoring game. From our training camp research, we also feel that the Eagles simply aren't motivated for this game. Along with the distraction of Staley's holdout, we get the sense that this team is in a holding pattern in between Tampa Bay games. They are still having a hard time getting over their playoff loss to the Bucs that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl. Now, with Tampa Bay returning to Philly for the season's Monday Night opener, they seem to be content to go through the motions until that day.
With New Orleans we get a team playing before a sellout home crowd and a desire to win the games. Jim Haslett has stated that he wants to win this game, and we'll take him at his word. The Saints went 3-1 ATS last exhibition season, while the Eagles are a sorry 2-10-1 ATS in pre-season openers. We also note that Philadelphia is just 3-11 ATS in games in which the pointspread is in the +3 to -3 range. While we don't see anything here to call this a very strong play we do expect a close, low-scoring game. With only needing a 2-point win to cover the spread, we like the Saints to win by 3-6 points, while the conservative game-calling by both coaches keeps this game UNDER.
Philadelphia vs. NEW ORLEANS UNDER 35 1/2
The Philadelphia Eagles will begin the healing process from their stunning home loss to Tampa Bay in the 2002 NFC Championship Game, when they open up their preseason slate against the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Monday night. Philadelphia has had six months to think about what could have been after falling to the Buccaneers, 27-10, in the Veterans Stadium football finale.
New Orleans will be looking to turn the page as well after coming apart at the seams down the stretch in 2002. The Saints missed the postseason after losing games to Minnesota, Cincinnati and Carolina in the final three weeks of the campaign. The same big-name players will be on the field here for New Orleans, albeit briefly. The QB rotation will consist of Aaron Brooks, Todd Bouman, Jeff Lewis and J.T. O'Sullivan who may see some late mop-up duty. That's a decent depth chart that shouldn't be too erratic. What New Orleans is really looking for at this point is a running back to relieve Deuce McAllister. They will also need much more from its defense as well, considering it surrendered 24.3 points per game last season.
The headline in Eagles' training camp hasn't been a good one, as their running back named "Duce, Mr. Staley, is locked in a stalemate with management over his contract. Staley is holding out in hopes that the team will give him an extension. Philadelphia simply wants him to play and honor his contract. This may not end soon, so coach Andy Reid has to prepare for that possibility. We also expect him to give his back-up RB's a good look. The quarterback rotation is one of the deepest in the league, with starter Donovan McNabb, and reserves Koy Detmer, A.J. Feeley, and Tim Hasselbeck.
It's not easy to go against such a solid set of signal callers in a pre-season game but we feel other factors weigh in the Saints favor here. Again, with both teams expected to run the ball quite a bit, the play of the quarterbacks won't quite be as big of a part of the game. This should also provide a lower-scoring game. From our training camp research, we also feel that the Eagles simply aren't motivated for this game. Along with the distraction of Staley's holdout, we get the sense that this team is in a holding pattern in between Tampa Bay games. They are still having a hard time getting over their playoff loss to the Bucs that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl. Now, with Tampa Bay returning to Philly for the season's Monday Night opener, they seem to be content to go through the motions until that day.
With New Orleans we get a team playing before a sellout home crowd and a desire to win the games. Jim Haslett has stated that he wants to win this game, and we'll take him at his word. The Saints went 3-1 ATS last exhibition season, while the Eagles are a sorry 2-10-1 ATS in pre-season openers. We also note that Philadelphia is just 3-11 ATS in games in which the pointspread is in the +3 to -3 range. While we don't see anything here to call this a very strong play we do expect a close, low-scoring game. With only needing a 2-point win to cover the spread, we like the Saints to win by 3-6 points, while the conservative game-calling by both coaches keeps this game UNDER.
