The Eagles have two games remaining and they only need one more win to secure the number one spot in the NFC. It has been a great season, and it is hard to ask for much more than we got out of The Birds so far. Of course though, injuries have struck the team late in the season, making it a little more stressful for fans watching the team try to lock up the number 1 seed. Even with the bad injury luck, the Eagles have a great chance at locking up that top spot against the saints tomorrow.
Eagles offense against Saints defense
It's not secret that Jalen Hurts is dealing with a shoulder injury, and at the time of this writing, the Eagles have him listed as doubtful. There is no need to hit the panic button, Gardner Minshew has looked good every time hes filled in for Hurts. Last week he put up 355 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns against a Cowboys defense that is much better than the saints. Minshew is known for being more of a passing QB than the duel threat QB were used to seeing Hurts be, but Gardner has still had much success. DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown are likely going to have big games. Both put up over 100 yards last week, and this week they will be facing less talented corners. Some key defensive players for the saints that have injuries designations in their most recent practice are: Marshon Lattimore LP (abdomen), Marcus Maye DNP (shoulder), and pete Werner LP (hamstring). One more thing to note is that the Birds will be without Lane Johnson, so it will be interesting to see what they do at RT. It was already going to be hard for the Saints to slow down the Eagles offense, and unless there is a high amount of turnovers like last week, and Birds should be able to control the ball pretty well.
Eagles defense against Saints Offense
The Saints offense is even more banged up than their defense. Here are the players with injury designations: Alvin Kamara DNP (quads/personal), Chris Olave LP (hamstring), Andrus Peat DNP (ankle), Ryan Ramcyzk LP (illness), Dwayne Washington DNP (illness). It should also be noted that Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry are both out for the rest of the season. The Eagles will have some major matchup advantages, especially against the Saints banged up O-Line. The Birds are 12 sacks away from breaking the league record, and it is possible they get more than half of those 12 sacks in this game. Brandon Graham is 1 sack away from reaching 10, which would make the Eagles have 4 players with 10+ sacks on the season. One thing that would be nice to see is an interception or 2 from the backend, those numbers have fallen off since CJGJ got hurt. As long as Gannon doesn't (seemingly purposefully) let the opposing QB's throw all over us, then we should be good against the Saints.
When its all said and done, the only way the Eagles don't end this weekend as NFC East champions, and the number 1 team in the NFC is if they blow it for themselves. As long as Gannon straightens up, and we clean up the turnovers, this will be a win for the Birds. I have a feeling Philly will be rocking on New Years Day.
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