Eagles open as home favorites against a plucky Saints team

The Eagles have not won a home game in 337 days and counting. This Sunday, the Birds will have an opportunity to beat the team they last took down at Lincoln Financial Field: the New Orleans Saints.

The Eagles opened as 1.5-point favorites against Sean Payton’s side, according to DraftKings Sportbook.

That’s obviously less than the standard three-point line. And it’s not unreasonable.

The Saints might not seem so intimidating on paper with Trevor Siemian as their starting quarterback. But one would be wise not to sleep on them. New Orleans is 5-4 with wins over Tampa Bay and Green Bay. They also just took a tough Titans team down to the wire in Week 10. Tennessee was fortunate to benefit from a highly suspect roughing the passer call that wiped out a bad Ryan Tannehill interception in the end zone.

There’s a reason Payton is regarded as one of the best head coaches in the league. He’s getting the most (17th in DVOA) out of the offensive talent they have to work with. New Orleans has one of the better defenses (3rd in DVOA) in the league under veteran defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.

That said, Jalen Hurts is coming off an encouraging game in Denver where he put together his best half of his young career. Hurts did damage to Allen’s defense in his first-ever NFL start last year, as did Philly’s rushing attack as a whole.

And while Jonathan Gannon’s defense has really struggled to stop the NFL’s top quarterbacks, it’s done a good job of stopping the league’s limited passers. It goes without saying that Siemian fits in the latter category.

The Saints should be expected to put up a good fight but this is a winnable game for the Birds as Philly tries to advance their position in the NFC playoff picture. Beating New Orleans would give the Eagles a valuable tiebreaker when it comes to the wild card spots.

What say you? Can Philly finally win back-to-back games for the first time in over a year?