Eagles-Saints: Players To Watch, Bold Predictions And Final Score

It will be tough to beat the undefeated New Orleans Saints with the way the Eagles are playing, but there might be a glimmer of hope.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – If you are looking for any hope of an Eagles upset in the French Quarter on Sunday, look no further than this statistic: Philly is 6-2 when playing on short rest since 2022, while the Saints are 1-5 versus such teams under Dennis Allen's watch, per NFL Research.

Is that enough to think the Eagles can put last week’s late-game collapse behind them and beat the high-flying Saints in their thunder dome of a stadium?

We’ll see.

Here are some players to watch, bold predictions for the game, and my final score prediction.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Georgia first rounders. There are three of them – Jalen Carter, (9th), Jordan Davis (13th), and Nolan Smith (30th). They have not yet played up to their draft status. If they don’t figure it out soon, it may be time to go back the drawing board and try again in the draft.

“I think all three guys have shown moments of having a lot of good plays, and all of them have had bumps, too,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “But that's every player. That's not just limited to those guys. We're 1-1 at this particular point, so there are going to be good plays, there are going to be bad plays. But, a lot of confidence in those guys and their abilities, why we drafted them in the first place, and what they can add to our defense.”

Darius Slay. The veteran cornerback surrendered the game-winning touchdown in the final minute against the Falcons. Slay took accountability for allowing it, but to earn the nickname ‘Big Play’ he needs to be better in a big moment like that.

Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Bryce Huff. Duh. When will the pressure and sacks come? Maybe on Sunday.

Britain Covey. The receiver made a career-high six catches but had just 23 yards. The 3.8 average won’t cut it, but he will likely be targeted often again on Sunday with A.J. Brown out.

Jahan Dotson. OK, he wasn’t here for the entire training camp, the former Commanders receiver has ad nearly a month now to pick up the pace and he just hasn’t been involved in the offense to the level that you would expect a first-round pick from just two years ago. He was targeted just once last week and made that catch for six yards. Clearly, the Eagles need to find ways to get him more involved.

BOLD PREDICTIONS

-Jalen Hurts interception. Until the quarterback doesn’t throw one, this prediction will continue to pop up here. He has three in two games and has thrown one in six straight games dating back to last season.

-The Eagles defense will play better and hold Alvin Kamara under 100 yards of total offense.

-Saquon Barkley will catch everything thrown is way and run for 100-plus yards for the second time this season.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION

It’s hard to see the Eagles getting well against a very good, and very surprising, New Orleans team, but, hey, at least they will hold them under 40 points, something no team has done yet in the first two weeks.

Saints 34, Eagles 23

Season record: 1-1

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