The New Orleans Saints head into a home matchup versus the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday with a 2-0 record. If you asked me or pretty much anyone else if they thought that would be the case, they’d probably have told you no, but here we are.
The highlight of the first two weeks has been the Saints offense, and rightfully so because they’re averaging 45.5 points per game over the first two weeks, which is first in the league, but their defense has quietly been very good as well. Through two games, one of which was against a very good Dallas offense, the Saints are surrendering 14.5 points per game, which is fourth in the league. The reason nobody is talking about the Saints defense is because this is what we’ve come to expect over the last few years, but they certainly still deserve their flowers.
This week the Saints face the Eagles, who are led by one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league, Jalen Hurts. Through two games, Hurts has completed 67.2% of his passes for 471 yards and three touchdowns, but he’s tied for the second most interceptions thrown with three.
On the flip side, the Saints defense has been pretty solid against the pass, holding opponents to 210 yards per game, which in pretty much any other year would be top 15 to top 10, but this year with the passing numbers down, it has them ranked 20th.
The Eagles will likely be without their top receiver, AJ Brown, who had 119 yards and a touchdown in week one. Devonta Smith will step up in his place – he has 14 catches for 160 yards and one touchdown this year. Behind him though, the Eagles’ receiving core is very thin. Outside of Brown and Smith, the next leading wide receiver on the team is Britain Covey, who has six catches for 23 yards. Without Brown in week two, Hurts threw for just 183 yards and one touchdown against the Falcons.
The Saints defensive backs should have a field day in coverage on Sunday, especially if Marshon Lattimore is back. If Lattimore plays, he’ll likely follow Smith around when in man coverage, leaving Paulson Adebo, Alontae Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry to pick up the rest of the Eagles receivers.
On the ground, the Eagles are much more efficient than through the air. They’ve rushed for 330 yards behind a 4.4 average through two weeks, which ranks them ninth in the league in yards per game and 18th in average. Saquon Barkley is their main threat, but I’m a bit more concerned about Jalen Hurts. The Saints seem to always get torched by rushing quarterbacks, so that could, and probably will, be an issue once again this week.
The Saints defense currently ranks third in the league in opponents rushing yards per game allowed (67), but that’s in part due to them being up by so much in their first two games. However, when you look at rush yards per attempt allowed, they rank second, giving up 3.1 yards per carry. The rush defense has looked much improved over two weeks, but they’ll need to keep that up against a very good Philly RB room and offensive line.
One area the Saints defense struggled in last year was pass rush. They finished bottom-three in sacks per game last season, but through two games, they find themselves tied for third with 3.5 sacks per game. Alontae Taylor leads the way with three sacks, but Carl Granderson and Chase Young have combined for 20 pressures and three sacks off the edge.
Like I said earlier, the Eagles have a good offensive line which has allowed just three sacks this season. Hurts is mobile though, so that helps him escape some would’ve been sacks, but it will be hard to get him on the ground in the backfield this week.
On paper, it seems like the Saints defense should have a field day against the Eagles, but I’m still pretty concerned about Hurts rushing the football. We’ve seen it time and time again where an opposing QB has a huge day on the ground against the Saints, and this will be their first test with that this season. If they can limit Hurts’s rushing, they should be just fine, but if not, it could be a long day for the Saints defense.
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