The New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles kick off the NFC side of the playoffs on Saturday night and the wild card matchup has two high scoring teams and quarterbacks in Drew Brees and Nick Foles and the game will be at Lincoln Financial Field and is starting at 8:10 pm and is live on NBC and streaming online and is a matchup the three and six seeded teams.
The Eagles come into the game playing very well under Chip Kelly and Philadelphia won the NFC East division title in the first year under the former Oregon head coach and the offense has been as good as advertised. The team hung 50 points on the Bears before winning against the Dallas Cowboys in the season finale and they come in with LeSean McCoy as the rushing champion and Nick Foles as the highest rated passer in the league and that could mean trouble for the Saints defense. McCoy had over 1,600 yards this season and Foles opened the year with 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions and now he is firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback for the Eagles. This game could be an offensive shootout and the the fact that it's on the road in the outdoors could be what decides the game for the Eagles over the Saints.
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The Saints come into the game with an 11-5 record after losing out to the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South division and now they have to hit the road against the Philadelphia Eagles and that will be a tough test, as the Saints do not play as well on the road as they do at home. The Saints are ranked second in the league in passing yards per game with Drew Brees passing for over 5,000 yards this season again and it is a great matchup, as the Eagles are ranked 32nd in the league in passing yards per game on defense and that could be what turns this game on Saturday night.
The Eagles won the NFC East division title against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and it was the third year in a row that Jerry Jones's franchise lost for the division title in the final game of the regular season. The Saints won against the Buccaneers in the final game of the season to lock in the sixth seed and on the other side in the wild card playoffs is the Green Bay Packers hosting the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field. The Eagles have a top 10 ranked defense and the rushing champion in LeSean McCoy and that makes their offense very dangerous and the way that Nick Foles played this season makes the team one to watch in the playoffs. Foles started the season with zero picks and 19 touchdowns and he ended the season with 27 scores and just two turnovers in the air and one of those came in the snow, so he has been very accurate this season and Chip Kelly's team could be one of the surprise dark horses in the NFC.