Philadelphia Eagles: 5 Players that are key to a Divisional Round victory over the Saints

The Backfield Committee

I can’t name one player, so here’s three for one. Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood, and Josh Adams. So the Eagles don’t have one running back that they feature. Instead, they rotate those three guys above, in hopes that one becomes the hot hand. Initially, Adams won over the bell-cow back role when he first had a solid game against the Saints. Since then though, the Eagles began to shy away from the undrafted rookie and stuck with a heavy dosage of Sproles and Smallwood.

Earlier in the week, I suggested that the Eagles should go back to using Adams this week since he had an impressive day against the Saints offense earlier in the year. Will they attempt to give Adams another shot at trying to prove himself to be a solid running back? That’s debatable. However, regardless of who they decide to run with as the lead back on Sunday, they must establish a run game early and often.

Remember how the Eagles dominated in time of possession against the Washington Redskins during Week 17? Well, the Birds are going to have to dial up a similar game plan. Keep killing the Saints defense with short-to-medium plays, and keep that clock rolling. The key to success on Sunday will be keeping Drew Brees and the Saints offense off the field for as long as you can. If you put the game into their defense’s hands, New Orleans is much more prone to losing. Stay true to run game once again, Doug.