Marginalizing the QB

In a nutshell, the Eagles should do everything in their power to make sure Kolb doesn't win or lose this game for them. I expect them to take a shot down the field early, possibly on the first play, definitely in the first quarter, just to show New Orleans they're willing to stretch the field. Probably DeSean down the sideline on play that will either be a big gainer or an incompletion. After the dust has settled, either way, we should be in for a heavy dose of Brian Westbrook.

I'm expecting 25+ touches for Westbrook, a ton of runs to the left side behind Jason Peters, and a smattering of bubble screens, quick-hitters to Celek over the middle and a healthy dose of high-percentage passes for Kolb. They're going to look to control the clock, minimize the risk on offense and lean on their defense to batter Drew Brees and stuff Mike Bell in the running game.

The key is going to be the early part of the game. If the Eagles can take an early lead, expect them to be able to run the entire game with this strategy. If the Saints jump out early by more than one score, things could go sideways quickly, and we could see Jeff Garcia before the day is out.

The Eagles are an extremely talented team, they weren't dependent on McNabb to be a good team, a team that beat the likes of the Saints (especially at home). There will be times when they absolutely need a huge game from McNabb (or whoever their quarterback is at the time) to pull out a win. I don't see this as one of those.

I'm looking forward to seeing a couple of things. Number one, how will Asante and Sheldon handle Brees. The Eagles need their corners to continue to make plays. Speaking of which, I'm really looking forward to another hit like this one on Reggie Bush, who is basically a slot receiver at this point for New Orleans. He only carried the ball 3 times in week one.