Philadelphia Eagles Week 17 Preview

The Philadelphia Eagles will face off against the New Orleans Saints this Sunday at Lincoln Financial field. Both teams are in two completely different positions regarding the playoffs. The Eagles have already clinched a playoff berth and are now looking to secure home-field advantage. The Saints on the other hand are barely alive in the playoff hunt. They need to win or tie against the Eagles to keep their hopes alive and will also need help from multiple other teams. This article will preview the Philadelphia Eagles Week 17 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. 

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are 6-6 this season. They are coming off back-to-back wins against the Atlanta Falcons and the Cleveland Browns. They won both games through their ground attack with Alvin Kamara. Kamara had 76 yards and one touchdown in the Saints’ last game against the Browns. Overall, on the season, Kamara has 717 rushing yards and two touchdowns. New Orleans will need to get him going in this game against Philadelphia if New Orleans wants a chance to win. 

The Saints also need to rely on the arm of Andy Dalton, who has not had a bad year up to this point. He has thrown for over 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns on the season. However, he is coming off a bad game against the Browns. He completed just over half of his passes and threw for just 92 yards, one interception and no touchdowns. He will need to be a little sharpers against the Eagles defense or it could be a long day for Dalton. His favorite receiver is Chris Olave, who is dealing with a hamstring injury and has been limited in practice this week. He missed last week’s game against the Browns. Olave has had a productive rookie year thus far. He has 940 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Olave will need to get healthy fast as he is a critical part of this Saints offense. Overall the Saints will need a lot of luck on their side if they want to come out with a victory against the Eagles.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles on the other hand are coming off a disappointing loss against the Dallas Cowboys. Jalen Hurts was out for this game due to a shoulder injury. However, Minshew did keep the Eagles in this game. He threw for over 300 yards and had two touchdowns. However, turnovers were a huge issue for Minshew. He had two interceptions that ultimately led to points for Dallas and the Eagles’ demise.  The Eagles have a chance to bounce back though. Jalen Hurts is practicing, which is a good sign for Philadelphia. This means that he can possibly play against New Orleans. Hurts is having an MVP Caliber year. He has over 3,000 passing yards and 22 touchdowns on the season. 

So what do the Eagles need to do to get the win against the Saints? They need to rely on their defense. They have been great at getting to the quarterback this season, which was not luxury that Philadelphia had last season. Hassan Reddick leads the team in sacks this year with 14. The Eagles also need to get their running game going again. Miles Sanders got a lot of touches against Dallas, but did not bring much productivity. He had just 65 yards against Dallas. The last thing the Eagles need to do is limit turnovers. Minshew was not the only person to blame last week for the Eagles’ turnover woes. Miles Sanders also coughed up the ball last week. The Eagles will need to clean this up so they will not suffer another setback. 

Prediction

The Eagles are 6.5-point favorites against the Saints this Week. It is predicted that the Eagles will cover the point spread in this game. The Eagles’ offense is just too high-powered for this Saints team. Sanders should bounce back after a lackluster game against Dallas.

This concludes this Philadelphia Eagles Week 17 preview. 

You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers along with Matthew!