Three key matchups to watch in NFC Divisional round games

Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints

1. Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara vs Eagles run defense

If the Eagles want to make it to their second straight NFC Championship game, they’ll have to stop RBs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara on the ground. As a team, the Saints ranked sixth in rush yards per game during the regular season. You have to think that’s one of the reasons why Drew Brees has been so effective this year.

Now the sixth ranked rush offense goes up against the seventh ranked rush defense of the Eagles. They allowed an average of 96.9 rush yards per game. Their rush defense was one of the reasons why they were able to pull off a win against the Chicago Bears last week. The Bears averaged 121.1 rush yards per game during the regular season, but were held to 65 total yards against the Eagles.

By not allowing the Bears to run the ball, they forced QB Mitch Trubisky to beat them. Trubisky had a good game, but the Bears were held to just 15 points. I’m not sure forcing Brees to beat you is the best idea, but the game will be tougher for him if Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara can’t get the ball moving.

Mark Ingram average 4.7 yards per carry, while Alvin Kamara averaged 4.6 yards per carry. They’ll have to average at least those numbers, if not more, to help out their QB.

2. Offensive lines vs Pass rush

Both the Saints and Eagles ranked in the top 10 in sacks this season. New Orleans ranked tied for fifth with 49.0 sacks. The Eagles ranked tied for eighth with 44.0. Both teams are good at getting to the QB.

A key to this game will be who can get to the opposing QB better. The Saints were second in the league in sacks allowed (20). Philadelphia ranked 16th in sacks allowed, giving up 40 sacks on the season.

One reason why the Eagles were able to beat the Bears last week, is because they allowed Nick Foles to be sacked just one time. To make that even more impressive, it was against the third ranked defense in sacks (50).

Both of these QBs are going to have to have good games if they want their team to get a win against their NFC Divisional round opponent. As is usually the case, the more protection they get, they better they should play.

3. Nick Foles and Drew Brees vs Secondries

As I just mentioned, a key to victory for both teams in the NFC Divisional round will be how well their QBs play. Philadelphia was able to get a win even though Nick Foles had a passer rating of just 77.7 last week. I doubt that’ll be the case again if Foles plays that way. So let’s take a look at these secondaries.

The Saints ranked 29th during the regular season in passing yards allowed per game. Guess where the Eagles ranked. They ranked 30th. Both teams ranked in the bottom five in passing yards allowed.

However, there’s one key difference between the two defense’s. The Saints allowed an average passer rating of 100.3, while the Eagles allowed an average passer rating of 93.4. That could be the difference in the game.

I don’t know how, but the Eagles can still win games when Nick Foles is average at best. If the Saints allow Foles to have a great game, they could be in for a huge upset.

Drew Brees finished with a passer rating of 115.2 on the season. He’ll have to have a game with a similar passer rating against a sneaky good Eagles secondary for his team to move on.