Eagles-Saints Game Preview: 5 questions and answers with the enemy

The Philadelphia Eagles are gearing up for their first road trip this season with a game against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. In order to preview this Week 3 matchup, I reached out to our enemies over at Canal Street Chronicles. The nice Nic Jennings kindly took the time to answer my questions about this upcoming battle. Let’s take a look at the answers. [For my answers about the Eagles, stay tuned to CSC.]

1 – The Saints are red hot! What’s gone into their offensive success and did anyone truly see this coming?
In my opinion, three major factors have contributed to the Saints’ early offensive success:

OC Klint Kubiak’s unique use of pre-snap motion and play action has had a massive impact on the Saints’ hot start. Last season, under former OC Pete Carmichael, the Saints ranked last in play-action rate league-wide (14.4%). Through the first two weeks of this season under Kubiak, they lead the league with a rate of 52.3%. Kubiak has incorporated pre-snap motion and play action simultaneously on 42% of drop-backs—10% more than the highest season-long rate in NFL history. No other team has topped 40% play-action usage to start 2024. Kubiak clearly isn’t afraid to do things his own way, and it’s proving to be dangerous for opposing defenses.

Throughout the offseason, Kubiak lived by the motto “shoot your bullets,” emphasizing the importance of utilizing your weapons—something that wasn’t effectively done under Carmichael last season for New Orleans. Through two weeks, we have seen just how creative Kubiak can get with his personnel groupings. Whether it’s Rashid Shaheed and Taysom Hill in the backfield or Derek Carr and Alvin Kamara lined up at receiver, Kubiak always seems to have something up his sleeve to baffle the defense and keep drive’s moving by setting his players up for success and playing to their strengths.

The Saints run game has also been a pleasant surprise to start the season, opening up the offense immensely and easing the pressure on QB Derek Carr. New Orleans parted ways with former RB coach Joel Thomas this offseason after nine seasons with the team, bringing in former Los Angeles Chargers RB coach Derrick Foster as his replacement. After training camp, it looked as if the team needed some more juice in the backfield. However, through two games, New Orleans has one of the league’s most lethal rushing attacks, led by star RB Alvin Kamara and the versatile Taysom Hill. The Saints are currently averaging 185 rushing yards per game, dominating on the ground against their first two opponents.

Coming into the season, I think all of Who Dat Nation expected some improvement on offense with Kubiak’s arrival, though I doubt anyone anticipated this level of success. Hopefully, they back up their early performances by carrying this momentum into the rest of the season.

2 – Derek Carr and Dennis Allen don’t exactly have the most encouraging track records over a large sample size. To what extent do you believe this Saints team is for real?
It really boils down to whether this offense can stay consistent and efficient. Carr and the offense need to stay locked in and not let the media attention and hype get to their heads. Allen and Kubiak have emphasized that they aren’t satisfied, even though they’ve been pleased with the team’s execution through the first two weeks of the season.

Considering their past track records, I can see why people may be hesitant to believe in them as the HC-QB duo to lead New Orleans to the Super Bowl. It’s clear that Dennis Allen has grown this offseason as both a leader and a playcaller, and you can always count on his defense to get the job done. For Carr, Kubiak’s scheme has freed him up a ton, and if he continues to play like he has to start the season, the Saints could end up as legitimate contenders.

If New Orleans can pull off a win on Sunday against Philadelphia, I don’t see any reason to doubt that this team is for real. Going into Week 2 against Dallas, I said that if the Saints won in Jerry’s World, it would change my perspective on their ceiling for the 2024 season—and it certainly has.

3 – If there have been any cracks in the Saints’ armor, however small, what — if anything — are you worried that the Eagles might be able to exploit?
Dennis Allen has a history of struggling to contain dual-threat quarterbacks, with Jalen Hurts being one of his more problematic assignments over the past few years (175 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs in two games vs. New Orleans). Last season, former Minnesota Vikings QB Josh Dobbs terrorized the Saints defense with his legs, along with former UDFA QB Tyson Bagent of the Chicago Bears, who recorded 70 rushing yards on 8 attempts against New Orleans.

One of my X-factors for Sunday’s matchup is former Kansas City Chiefs LB Willie Gay, who impressed as a QB spy during his time in KC. Gay is fairly familiar with Jalen Hurts and the Eagles after facing them in Super Bowl 57 in 2023. The Eagles’ tandem of Hurts and Saquon Barkley is what concerns me most for this Saints defense. However, DA’s group has looked great to this point, so hopefully they’ve made immobilizing Hurts and limiting Barkley a priority in practice this week.

4 – Now with the benefit of hindsight, how would you assess the big Eagles-Saints trade that took place leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft? The Eagles ultimately got A.J. Brown, Jalen Carter, Cooper DeJean, and Kyron Johnson from that haul while the Saints got Chris Olave, Trevor Penning, and Jordan Jackson. Would you make that deal again if it was up to you?
In 2023, I probably would have answered you differently, but through the first two games of 2024, I personally wouldn’t change how the deal played out if it were up to me. WR Chris Olave has been excellent throughout his time in New Orleans, recording consecutive 1,000-yard seasons between his rookie and sophomore years. He spent the majority of the offseason in the weight room, gaining about six pounds with the goal of improving his contested catching and YAC abilities. Meanwhile, Trevor Penning appears to finally be gaining his footing in the NFL following his transition to RT, allowing only two pressures to this point. During the Saints’ blowout win in Dallas, Trevor Penning gave up just one pressure to arguably the best edge rusher in all of football in Cowboys LB Micah Parsons.

Regarding what the Eagles received in the trade, WR A.J. Brown is an absolute beast, as is DL Jalen Carter. It’s unfair of me to form an opinion on rookie DB Cooper DeJean at this point due to the small sample size we’ve seen from him, though I believe he will be a great player in this league.

DL Jordan Jackson and LB Kyron Johnson simply haven’t developed in the pros as initially expected, with Jackson currently a member of the Denver Broncos and Johnson now with the Tennessee Titans.

5 – Who wins this game and why? With the Eagles currently listed as 2.5-point underdogs, what’s your score prediction?
I’m going to stick with my gut and predict the Saints will narrowly defeat the Eagles 35-32 in the dome on Sunday afternoon. I have a feeling it will be a shootout and come down to the wire, though this Philadelphia defense hasn’t convinced me it can hang with this scorching New Orleans offense down the stretch. This game is a huge test for the Saints in determining their identity as a football team this season.