Eagles vs. Saints: The pick

WELL, I WAS spot-on last week, predicting that Carolina victory over the Birds. Hard to see how I can improve on that breathtaking feat of prescience.

Maybe by thinking the Eagles are going to win a game they probably should lose.

I don't think Donovan McNabb is playing, whether his ribs are sticky or nonsticky. In fact, if I thought a severely limited McNabb was going to hobble out there, I'd probably pick the Saints.

Two reasons for picking the Eagles - I think it's very possible Kevin Kolb isn't a bad quarterback, in Year 3, and I think the Saints don't travel well.

Kolb, as you have read a dozen times this week, has never before actually gotten a chance to start, and to prepare as a starter. The Saints were 2-6 on the road last season, winning in Kansas City and Detroit. They carry the dome-team stigma, until they prove otherwise.

If you want to cast aspersions on that Eagles season-opening blowout, well, hey, the Saints snacked on the Lions.

Let's not dwell on the fact that the Eagles have been 2-0 under Andy Reid exactly once, in 2004, when they won their first seven.

Prediction:

 

Eagles 28, Saints 26.

- Les Bowen