Eagles vs. Saints predictions: Our writers make their picks for a pivotal Week 3 clash

The Eagles (1-1) look to right the ship Sunday as they face the 2-0 New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

The Eagles offense, meanwhile, will likely be without receiver A.J. Brown for another week. Jalen Hurts looked lost without his favorite target in the first half vs. the Falcons, but he adjusted and was steadier than he was in the opener against the Green Bay Packers. Until the end. Hurts’ ill-advised pass on the final drive that was intercepted showed once again a lack of situational awareness. Saints coach Dennis Allen’s defense hasn’t been asked to carry the weight because Klint Kubiak’s offense has been so dominant. But there are stresses to his scheme that can be exploited. Allen’s 4-3 aggressive front can fall prey to screens and misdirection and his single-high safety coverages can allow explosive plays.

As much as I endorse the idea that last week shouldn’t influence this week as much as some believe in the NFL, some of the Eagles’ issues — particularly on defense — don’t seem to be going away. But they still have explosive weapons on offense. They have an offensive line that has been among the best in the league through two weeks. And I’m not 100% sold on the Saints this early.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Saints 24

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Vic Fangio isn’t making changes to his young, inexperienced defense despite the growing pains

There’s a real possibility these teams aren’t exactly what they look like through two weeks, which would probably work in the Eagles’ favor. The Eagles do theoretically have more talent on paper, but wasn’t that the case Monday night, too?

It’s a hard game to pick. If Brown plays, the Eagles probably win. If he doesn’t, they may lose a close one. It feels like a coin-flip game, which means the home team with the resurgent running back is probably the wiser pick over the defense that hasn’t yet shown it can win a battle against a player of that caliber.

Prediction: Saints 27, Eagles 24

The Eagles offense will need to keep pace with the Saints’, and potentially without Brown due to a hamstring injury, that could be too tall of a task. If Brown can’t go, the Eagles must do a better job of distributing targets to Dallas Goedert and Jahan Dotson, whom the Eagles acquired in exchange for a package of picks that included a valuable 2025 third-rounder. Otherwise, if the Saints continue to perform above expectations and the offense lacks the explosive edge that Brown brings, the Eagles could be looking at a 1-2 start to the season for the first time since 2021.

Prediction: Saints 34, Eagles 26

On the other side of the ball, a full week to prepare for the prospect of being without Brown should help the Eagles offense steady the ship. The difference may come down to the Eagles’ ability to win at the line of scrimmage against a Saints front that ranks No. 1 in efficiency against the run. Saquon Barkley has been key to stemming the tide for the Eagles passing game so far this season, and getting him and Hurts going on the ground can provide cover if things are stodgy through the air.

Overall, this game feels like a toss-up between a team starting the season red-hot and one that will need to respond to the adversity of a shocking loss. The Eagles can win this game, but the Saints’ current form will make it a daunting task, especially on the road.

Prediction: Saints 31, Eagles 28

The Eagles (1-1) look to right the ship Sunday as they face the 2-0 New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Here are the full predictions from our writers for Week 3:

Are the Eagles as bad as they have looked in their worst moments of the first two weeks of the NFL season? Are the Saints as good as they have appeared in opening 2-0? Or will one team that was expected by many to be a playoff — and possibly Super Bowl — contender play more to its expected mean as the season progresses? And will the other team that was predicted by the majority to be, at best, mediocre skew toward that level over the long haul?

My experience in covering the NFL suggests that could be the case. But there are signs from each outpost that the Eagles may have too many flaws to be consistently good and the Saints have made changes that suddenly make them among the more improved teams in 2024.

Let’s start in New Orleans. The hiring of coordinator Klint Kubiak and his implementation of the Shanahan scheme has injected obvious juice into the Saints’ offense. The days of Sean Payton’s dropback, pass-heavy offense are over. The Saints now utilize a system that emphasizes zone run blocking with a heavy reliance on play-action in the pass game. They’ve been successful in running Alvin Kamara and others on the perimeter and have had quarterback Derek Carr throw off run-action on more than 50% of his drops.

Both tactics could spell trouble for an Eagles defense that can’t contain wide zone runs — or inside ones, for that matter — and has off-ball linebackers that have been taken advantage of on play fakes. If there’s good news for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, it’s that the Saints don’t employ nearly as many three-wideout sets as the Atlanta Falcons. He stayed in nickel personnel for around 95% of the snaps on Monday night and Atlanta gashed the Eagles’ light boxes.

If Fangio can use more of his five-man fronts, it’ll help tighten up the gaps. But there may be little he can do to offset what the Eagles lack in personnel, particularly whenever Bryce Huff is on the field on run downs. Fangio has been able to hang his hat on getting off the field on third down and in the red zone, but I’m not sure he wants to be overly passive in his coverages. The last time Carr faced the Eagles in a Fangio-like scheme in 2021, the then-Raiders quarterback carved the defense up by completing an amazing 31 of 34 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns.

» READ MORE: Eagles vs. Falcons film review: Areas of improvement for the league’s worst run defense

The Eagles offense, meanwhile, will likely be without receiver A.J. Brown for another week. Jalen Hurts looked lost without his favorite target in the first half vs. the Falcons, but he adjusted and was steadier than he was in the opener against the Green Bay Packers. Until the end. Hurts’ ill-advised pass on the final drive that was intercepted showed once again a lack of situational awareness. Saints coach Dennis Allen’s defense hasn’t been asked to carry the weight because Kubiak’s offense has been so dominant. But there are stresses to his scheme that can be exploited. Allen’s 4-3 aggressive front can fall prey to screens and misdirection and his single-high safety coverages can allow explosive plays.

As much as I endorse the idea that last week shouldn’t influence this week as much as some believe in the NFL, some of the Eagles’ issues — particularly on defense — don’t seem to be going away. But they still have explosive weapons on offense. They have an offensive line that has been among the best in the league through two weeks. And I’m not 100% sold on the Saints this early.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Saints 24

This game looked a whole lot different on paper a few weeks ago. It was one you would quite comfortably put in the projected Eagles win column.

Now? The Saints are rolling and the Eagles are limping.

Brown’s status is still up in the air, but assuming the Eagles’ star wide receiver can’t go because of his hamstring injury, the Eagles are in trouble in the Big Easy. They could be in trouble even with him considering how New Orleans is playing offense, especially the way Kamara is running the ball, and the way the Eagles are defending the run and tackling.

It’s only been two weeks, so reactions on both sides of this tilt are a bit overstated. Carr didn’t suddenly become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, despite where his adjusted expected points added metrics have him among starting QBs. The Eagles, meanwhile, were an easy Saquon Barkley catch away from being 2-0.

There’s a real possibility these teams aren’t exactly what they look like through two weeks, which would probably work in the Eagles’ favor. The Eagles do theoretically have more talent on paper, but wasn’t that the case Monday night, too?

It’s a hard game to pick. If Brown plays, the Eagles probably win. If he doesn’t, they may lose a close one. It feels like a coin-flip game, which means the home team with the resurgent running back is probably the wiser pick over the defense that hasn’t yet shown it can win a battle against a player of that caliber.

Prediction: Saints 27, Eagles 24

The Eagles aren’t facing the Saints at an ideal time. On the heels of a loss to the Falcons that felt like a continuation of the 2023 season, the Eagles will visit the raucous Superdome to take on a Saints team that boasts the No. 1 scoring offense in the league (91 points in two games) and the No. 4 scoring defense (29 points allowed).

Kubiak, the Saints’ new offensive coordinator, has his unit firing on all cylinders. He has incorporated elements of the Shanahan offense, including outside zone runs and play-action passes, with strong early returns. It starts with the dominance of the run game, spearheaded by Kamara, the 29-year-old, five-time Pro Bowl running back, and the Saints’ offensive line. The Saints have racked up 185 rushing yards per game (No. 3 in the NFL), earning +0.22 expected points added per rushing play (tied for No. 2, per NFL Next Gen Stats), a statistic that measures the expected points gained or lost by a team on each play.

Meanwhile, the Eagles have been one of the worst teams in the league defending the run through two games. Its defense has allowed 6.4 rushing yards per carry, the worst clip in the NFL. It doesn’t help that Fangio deploys light boxes at the second-highest rate of any team at 73.5%, per Next Gen Stats. The Eagles need more from their defensive front, from the defensive tackles to the edge defenders, to slow down Kamara.

Establishing the run has helped the Saints open up the play-action passing game. No starting quarterback in the league has attempted a greater percentage of play-action passes on his dropbacks than Carr (51.2%), according to Pro Football Focus. Those passes have resulted in chunk plays, as Carr has averaged 1.32 yards per attempt on his play-action passes (No. 2 in the NFL, per PFF).

» READ MORE: With A.J. Brown’s status still in question, the Eagles will need more from Jahan Dotson and Dallas Goedert

The Eagles offense will need to keep pace with the Saints’, and potentially without Brown due to a hamstring injury, that could be too tall of a task. If Brown can’t go, the Eagles must do a better job of distributing targets to Dallas Goedert and Jahan Dotson, whom the Eagles acquired in exchange for a package of picks that included a valuable 2025 third-rounder. Otherwise, if the Saints continue to perform above expectations and the offense lacks the explosive edge that Brown brings, the Eagles could be looking at a 1-2 start to the season for the first time since 2021.

Prediction: Saints 34, Eagles 26

With the Saints coming off a torrid start to the season and the Eagles experiencing an early hiccup, Sunday feels like an opportunity for both sides to regress back toward the mean.

Even if New Orleans cools off from the blowout wins against the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers, this game will be a significantly more difficult challenge for the Eagles than most would have expected going into the regular season. New Orleans is ranked first in offensive efficiency and third in defensive efficiency, which is tracked by FTN Fantasy, and takes strength of opponent into account when assessing results.

Kubiak, the son of former Denver Broncos and Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, has authored an offensive scheme that will test the Eagles reeling run defense with the same types of challenges the group has struggled with so far this season. Containing Kamara on wide zone runs is a daunting task for most defenses, but the Eagles were concerningly overmatched against such looks against Atlanta running back duo Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier.

Considering the short turnaround and limited practice time the Eagles face before flying to the Bayou, meaningful change may have to come from Fangio loading up the box more often and changing up his personnel tendencies.

That will come at a cost, though. Carr is averaging 11.4 yards per passing attempt so far this season, which leads the NFL, and he has been especially effective on explosive targets. According to Next Gen Stats, he’s completed nine passes that traveled over 50 yards in the air this season, which leads the NFL. If the Eagles pass rush looks like it has so far this season, it’s hard to imagine the Saints having a quiet day offensively.

On the other side of the ball, a full week to prepare for the prospect of being without Brown should help the Eagles offense steady the ship. The difference may come down to the Eagles’ ability to win at the line of scrimmage against a Saints front that ranks No. 1 in efficiency against the run. Barkley has been key to stemming the tide for the Eagles passing game so far this season, and getting him and Hurts going on the ground can provide cover if things are stodgy through the air.

Overall, this game feels like a toss-up between a team starting the season red-hot and one that will need to respond to the adversity of a shocking loss. The Eagles can win this game, but the Saints’ current form will make it a daunting task, especially on the road.

Prediction: Saints 31, Eagles 28

The Eagles play in Week 3 against the Saints in New Orleans. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Caesars Superdome.