Bye bye birdie bye bye (1 Viewer)

[st dude]

The bye is big, and here’s why.

On December 30 the Saints were at home, resting starters in a meaningess game. The Eagles were in a must win game away from home, at Washington.

While the Eagles were flying home that Sunday, thinking about their upcoming trip to the Windy City, evil genius Sean Payton was already game planning for a game two weeks away.

While the wounded Saints players recovered from a long season, the Eagles had no such luxury. They had a do or die on te road game coming up with an uber physical Bears team.

By 9 o’clock last Sunday Payton knew it would be the Eagles and no doubt began tweaking his game plan. The Eagles were back on yet another plane, headed home after a brawl in Chicago. The Saints players watched the game, studying their opponent and were long in bed before the Eagles flight home even landed.

The rested Saints were up early Monday, learning the game plan and going through reps. The Eagles got to their practice facility much later Monday, unless they didn’t sleep. A few headed straight to the ice tub.

The Saints are now in their second week of rest, fully focused on the Eagles. The Eagles are getting to work, but dealing with the logistics of yet another travel day to New Orleans , robbing them of another valuable preparation day. The Saints get the benefit of an entire week of work at home, sleeping at home instead of a downtown hotel.

All this is not to say a wildcard team can’t beat a bye team. It happens. That said, the bye has given the Saints a decided advantage. The travel the Eagles have done over the last few weeks has to take some toll. Sean Payton has had two weeks to gameplan, the Eagles staff less than a full week. Let’s hope all that adds up to bye bye eagles.

 

[bladerunner]

BIRDIE NUM NUM

 

[tigerrealm]

Agree with all, A big Saints advantage.
Except the eagles have known that after the Bears they would have the Saints again, so their coaching staff must have had some thoughts and schemes prepared for the run.

 

[Brennan77]

It's a tough draw for the Eagles and there's no doubt. The Saints have had their starters resting for over two weeks and will be mentally and physically prepared. The Eagles have accomplished an enormous feat in winning a playoff game after rallying from a 4-6 record. That's an amazing accomplishment. It's also exhausting. Their run ends on Sunday.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

The bye is big, and here’s why.

On December 30 the Saints were at home, resting starters in a meaningess game. The Eagles were in a must win game away from home, at Washington.

While the Eagles were flying home that Sunday, thinking about their upcoming trip to the Windy City, evil genius Sean Payton was already game planning for a game two weeks away.

While the wounded Saints players recovered from a long season, the Eagles had no such luxury. They had a do or die on te road game coming up with an uber physical Bears team.

By 9 o’clock last Sunday Payton knew it would be the Eagles and no doubt began tweaking his game plan. The Eagles were back on yet another plane, headed home after a brawl in Chicago. The Saints players watched the game, studying their opponent and were long in bed before the Eagles flight home even landed.

The rested Saints were up early Monday, learning the game plan and going through reps. The Eagles got to their practice facility much later Monday, unless they didn’t sleep. A few headed straight to the ice tub.

The Saints are now in their second week of rest, fulling focused on the Eagles. The Eagles are getting to work, but dealing with the logistics of yet another travel day to New Orleans , robbing them of another valuable preparation day. The Saints get the benefit of an entire week of work at home, sleeping at home instead of a downtown hotel.

All this is not to say a wildcard team can’t beat a bye team. It happens. That said, the bye has given the Saints a decided advantage. The travel the Eagles have done over the last few weeks has to take some toll. Sean Payton has had two weeks to gameplan, the Eagles staff less than a full week. Let’s hope all that adds up to bye bye eagles.

Agreed. Hopefully we send em flying home for good.
You’ll have to apologize to Nick and his father as I know y’all are close. Nick seems like a very good person, so when he plays anyone but our team I pull for him to do well.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

BIRDIE NUM NUM

Lol I’d never seen that. An odd adventure.

 

[coacher]

Not to mention CSP has a great record after bye weeks. Great post.

 

[football]

One thing that is in my mind for any season when in the hunt for a playoff spot is to get AT LEAST a second seed. That guaranteed a bye week and a home game. It is darn hard to get the number one seed. But it is a great accomplishment if we do. But also missing in that conversation is the importance of getting that number one seed the week before the regular season. Some of those players needed that extra week. Playing very vanilla in that last game also gave the coach what the team needed to work on. Although losing that last game wasn't such a big deal but the way they lost it got the coach really upset. Last week was focusing on themselves. These two weeks are so important and probably look back at these two weeks as a major factor in winning all the way.

 

[efil4stnias]

The bye is big, and here’s why.

On December 30 the Saints were at home, resting starters in a meaningess game. The Eagles were in a must win game away from home, at Washington.

While the Eagles were flying home that Sunday, thinking about their upcoming trip to the Windy City, evil genius Sean Payton was already game planning for a game two weeks away.

While the wounded Saints players recovered from a long season, the Eagles had no such luxury. They had a do or die on te road game coming up with an uber physical Bears team.

By 9 o’clock last Sunday Payton knew it would be the Eagles and no doubt began tweaking his game plan. The Eagles were back on yet another plane, headed home after a brawl in Chicago. The Saints players watched the game, studying their opponent and were long in bed before the Eagles flight home even landed.

The rested Saints were up early Monday, learning the game plan and going through reps. The Eagles got to their practice facility much later Monday, unless they didn’t sleep. A few headed straight to the ice tub.

The Saints are now in their second week of rest, fulling focused on the Eagles. The Eagles are getting to work, but dealing with the logistics of yet another travel day to New Orleans , robbing them of another valuable preparation day. The Saints get the benefit of an entire week of work at home, sleeping at home instead of a downtown hotel.

All this is not to say a wildcard team can’t beat a bye team. It happens. That said, the bye has given the Saints a decided advantage. The travel the Eagles have done over the last few weeks has to take some toll. Sean Payton has had two weeks to gameplan, the Eagles staff less than a full week. Let’s hope all that adds up to bye bye eagles.

We will see their best in the 1st q. If we can jump on them early, the fatigue and realization it's coming to a close could mean we really lay the wood.

There is no doubt the advantage we have in this game from a planning and physical standpoint.

 

[NOLA or bust]

We will see their best in the 1st q. If we can jump on them early, the fatigue and realization it's coming to a close could mean we really lay the wood.

There is no doubt the advantage we have in this game from a planning and physical standpoint.

I told my buddy this earlier today. I could see us pop them quickly for three unanswered scores and get a 17 or 21 pt lead. If it unfolds that way it will break the will of many players on their team. After that we just keep our foot on the gas.

 

[Clarkey]

BIRDIE NUM NUM

I can’t believe you posted that clip.

I can’t believe I watched the whole thing...

Haven’t seen that movie in years. LOL!

 

[BELOWSEALEVEL]

Hard to believe some of our guys haven't
played since Dec 23rd.
Roughly 2 1/2 weeks and counting.
That's a nice commodity right there.

 

[Andrus]

I can’t believe you posted that clip.

I can’t believe I watched the whole thing...

Haven’t seen that movie in years. LOL!

Peter Sellers was awesome!

 

[IsraeliSaintsFan]

We will see their best in the 1st q. If we can jump on them early, the fatigue and realization it's coming to a close could mean we really lay the wood.

There is no doubt the advantage we have in this game from a planning and physical standpoint.

I told my buddy this earlier today. I could see us pop them quickly for three unanswered scores and get a 17 or 21 pt lead. If it unfolds that way it will break the will of many players on their team. After that we just keep our foot on the gas.

Like how Minny jumped out to a 17-0 lead at the half last year. Without the bye, even a miracle wouldn't have saved them. (Oh man do I need the Lombardi Trophy to heal that pain!)

 

[Bill]

There is a lot of talk about the condition of NFL players by the end of Week 17 of the regular season. The majority of players were likely 'enduring' with some nagging soreness & injuries that they knew would not be fully healed until several weeks or months into the offseason. Thus the Bye positions give a team the best chance of being able to perform at their highest level simply due to the recoup time they get during Wildcard weekend.

Those teams who make it through to the Divisional Round need to be not only free from having a lot of major injuries, but they also need to be able to win in Round One without sustaining any additional dings to key players. And argument could be made that when Janikowski busted his hammy at the end of the first half last week, that effectively took Seattle out of the race due to losing a key scoring player.

Yes, the Bye week is HUGE, and hopefully being the #1 Seed with HFA gives us that final ingredient to go all the way!