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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES +5 AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS -5

The 10-6 Philadelphia Eagles in the Superdome in a New Orleans city that deserves this playoff game.

The Saints will not want to read this, but they should celebrate even if they lose this game. The season that they had this year after the season of last year is without question enough reason. But we all know that a loss in this game will provide much bittersweetness for a team that has won only one playoff game since the inception of the franchise in 1967. That is a surprising statistic for a team that once boasted a linebacker quartet that rivaled the present-day Baltimore Ravens with Pat Swilling, Rickey Jackson, Vaughan Johnson and the late, great Sam Mills.

The Saints of today primarily use their offense to win games, as they topped the NFL in total offense averaging 391.5 yards per game. But the defense has not disappeared, as they also finished the regular season listed as #3 in pass defense. This makes for an intriguing matchup with the passing offense of Philadelphia, which, ironically, ranked #3 in the league as well. It just so happens that the Saints are number one in the league in passing offense.

Garcia continued his magical ride replacing quarterback Donovan McNabb by winning his fifth straight full game with him under center; last weekend's close 23-20 Wild Card win over the New York Giants. Kicker David Akers ended the Giants' season with a field goal with no time left on the clock. Garcia played alright by not throwing any interceptions or losing any fumbles, but he was barely over 50% in the completion department. He will need to be better in this game, because the Saints will be hyped.

New Orleans will be holding their breath that an integral part of their offense will be there on Saturday when the Superdome goes absolutely wild in a positive way. Receiver Joe Horn, who has been with the Saints for the last seven seasons through all the hardship and the losing and led the Saints in relief support, is leaving it up to his coach to decide whether or not he will take the risk and play Horn with a groin injury that has not fully recovered since it occurred a month ago. It is the definition of a gamble: play Horn and risk losing him for the remainder of the playoffs, or rest him after a week of watching him not being able to run hard and knowing that his mere absence will detriment the team.

Look for him to be in the starting lineup and look for him to catch a ball very quickly in the Saints' first series, as head coach Sean Payton, who won the Coach of the Year award for the fantastic job he has done so far, will not want to provide the Eagles with an advantage that he can prevent.

PREDICTION: Saints to cover

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