Is it too late for the Eagles to salvage the season? Many think so, and at 4-5 the time is now to start the comeback. One problem standing in their way of a victory this week is the NFL’s hottest team, the New Orleans Saints.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The Eagles are 4-5 on the season, 3-6 against the spread, and 2-4 against the NFC conference, but still battling in the NFC East, now two games back of first place Washington. The Saints are 8-1 on the season, and a very impressive 7-2 ATS. They are 7-0 ATS in their last seven games, and 5-0 ATS in their last five games against the NFC. These two teams do not have much of a history against one another, with only four games played in the last decade. The last one was back in 2015.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles received some horrendous news this week, as Ronald Darby is out the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. It’s never a good time to lose a team’s top cornerback, but this might be the worst of it when playing on the road against a Drew Brees led Saints offence that ranked number one in scoring offence (36.7 points per game). With Darby in the line-up, the Eagles team struggles, ranked 23^rd in pass defence (265.8 yards per game). Now, things will only get worse.

Perhaps there is some light at the end of the tunnel as the Eagles are hoping to have Sidney Jones back in the line-up this week. If he is a go, he would replace Darby in the top cornerback spot. The Eagles might have one of the toughest finishing schedules in the NFL. Including this game with the Saints, the defending Super Bowl champs play four of the seven games remaining against current division leaders (Washington twice). It will be a tough mountain to climb if the playoffs are part of the future.

The Eagles remaining opponents have a combined record of 40-23 for a .635 winning percentage. Of note, the team was hoping veteran Darren Sproles would be back in the line-up last week, but after suffering a setback during practice, it doesn’t look like a return is near.

New Orleans Saints

With all due respect to the Kurt Warner led St. Louis Rams of the past, this 2018 Saints team is the greatest show on turf. It’s the number one scoring offence, led by a future hall of famer at quarterback, two running backs that can own a game, and an onslaught of receivers that stretch the field. Brees has led the offence to 40 points five times (in nine games) this season. Only two other offences in the history of the game have ever done that (2013 Broncos, and of course 2000 Rams).

Dig deeper into the numbers, the Saints have scored 331 points, that’s 15 more points per game than the Eagles have scored this season. Drew Brees is completing 77.3 percent of his passes, by far the highest in NFL history after nine games. The previous high was Tom Brady’s 73.2 percent in 2007. His top target Michael Thomas has 78 receptions, second-most in the NFL after nine games, and also has four 10-catch games this season. They enter this game on a massive eight game winning streak, and over that time have defeated opponents by an average score of 13.25 points per game.

Eagles vs. Saints Prediction