Injuries under center have haunted both the Saints and Eagles over the years. Week 3 will feature both starting quarterbacks for the first time since Nov. 2018:
The New Orleans Saints have had a decent number of games with the Philadelphia Eagles in recent years, however, many have been marred by quarterback injuries or replacements for one reason or another. That won’t be the case this week with Derek Carr and Jalen Hurts both starting under center, but poor health at quarterback has hit each team in recent years.
It is somewhat of a weird trend as their last four matchups, including one playoff game, have seen a quarterback who was not the initial starter playing for at least one of the two teams. Andy Dalton, Gardner Minshew II, Trevor Siemian, and Nick Foles are just some of the backups who have to step into a starting role during this series.
Starting off with the most recent matchup, Jan. 2023 (Week 17 of the 2022 season), we saw the normal Saints’ starter in Andy Dalton at the time. However, Jalen Hurts missed the matchup due to a sprained shoulder. This moved Minshew into the lineup and ultimately led to a 20-10 victory for the Saints on the road.
Then we go back to Week 11 of the 2021 season for their next matchup, which was the last matchup Hurts played in against the Saints. But with Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill both injured New Orleans had to turn to Trevor Siemian. This is also the year they had to start Ian Book for one game, which was not so great to say the least. Siemian would go 0-4 in his four starts, including this game which the Saints lost 40-29.
The Week 14 matchup in 2020 between these two teams also featured Jalen Hurts as the Eagles’ starting quarterback, except Drew Brees did not play due to his vast array of injuries; Brees suffered shoulder and foot issues in addition to his 11 broken ribs and collapsed lung. This led to the Saints starting Taysom Hill at quarterback, who actually didn’t do half bad with 291 passing yards and two touchdowns against one interception. Despite this, the Saints lost 24-21.
Then we have the one playoff game in this string of games, which was the 2018 NFC divisional round. This was the season Carson Wentz suffered his vertebral fracture around October, and missed the rest of the season, pushing Nick Foles back into the starting spot after his previous year’s heroics. This time he did not play as great, with only 201 passing yards and an touchdown to two interceptions, one of which being the notable Alshon Jeffrey drop and Marshon Lattimore interception off of it to seal the game.
Ultimately, the last time these two teams played with their normal starting quarterbacks was earlier that 2018 season in Week 11, when the Saints won 48-7 in dominating fashion on the back of 363 passing yards and 4 touchdowns from Drew Brees, as well as 103 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns from Mark Ingram II. Here’s hoping for another landslide on Sunday.
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