NFL / Andy Richmond / 18 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The Eagles will be praying that their star quarter-back can get fit for this weekend's clash. Meanwhile, Tampa and Buffalo aim to recover from week one defeats and one of the oldest rivalries in the NFL renews hostilties. Andy Richmond picks the best NFL bets.

"If McNabb plays (unlikely) then the Eagles have a shot but no McNabb makes the Saints a play, 1 pt win +1.5 points at around 2.0."

New Orleans at Philadelphia

Quarterback and injuries - a pivotal moment for any team and one which has a huge impact on this game. With Donovan McNabb's status for Sunday's home opener against the New Orleans Saints in question, a Philadelphia Eagles team with three former Pro Bowl quarterbacks on its roster might have to give third-year signal-caller Kevin Kolb his first NFL start.

Kolb was 7 of 11 for 23 yards and was sacked twice in relief of McNabb last week. He's only thrown 45 passes in the regular season. That's the downside for the Eagles but they start their home season on the back of a huge win in Carolina. The backbone of that win was the seven takeaways the defence produced; they will need the same intensity against an explosive Saints offence.

Led by QB Drew Brees, the Saints completed a perfunctory rout of the hapless Lions in Week One. The Saints Pro Bowl quarterback not only threw six touchdowns in Week One, but he completed 26 of 34 attempts and finished with 358 yards passing. While those stellar numbers are astounding, he will find it tough to duplicate them against the Eagles, who were nearly flawless against the pass versus the Panthers.

The Eagles will be expecting Drew Brees to air it out, so look for the Saints to try to keep the defence off balance by coming out with a heavy amount of running plays. The Eagles will be praying that they can get McNabb fit - if he is then expect the Saints to come looking for him - in fact expect them to come looking for whoever plays at quarterback for the Eagles.

The Saints are defined by QB Drew Brees. He was never pressured last week against Detroit, and was almost flawless as a result. The Eagles will bring pressure, but Brees' movement in and out of the pocket will be enough to compensate.

A fascinating game, which could be boiled down to a defensive/offensive battle between two of the better teams this year.

Recommendation: If McNabb plays (unlikely) then the Eagles have a shot but no McNabb makes the Saints a play, 1 pt win +1.5 points at around 2.0

Tampa Bay at Buffalo

Both these teams enter Week Two on the back of defeats on the opening weekend in different circumstances. The Buccaneers hung tough for a while, but could not keep up with the explosive Cowboys in a 34-21 loss. Buffalo led for most of the game, but were undone by a late fumble in a devastating 25 -24 defeat at New England.

While the history of this series only dates back to 1976, it's hard to believe that this will be Tampa Bay's first-ever regular-season game in Buffalo.

Tampa Bay will continue to expand on the running attack it highlighted against the Cowboys and will look for another good outing out of Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward, that should win the time of possession competition without necessarily putting points on the board quickly.

Bills QB Trent Edwards was very heady and impressive in the opener. If the most talkative and talked about player in the NFL Terrell Owens can find more time and space this week I expect to see them provide a dangerous combination against a steadily regressive Bucs defensive unit - they gave up 462 yards last week.

The Bills look to have more ability to bounce back here.

Recommendation: No heartache for the Bills this week - 1 pt win on Buffalo - 3.5 points at [1.8]

New York Giants at Dallas

This is one of the oldest and bitterest rivalries in the NFL. Add in the fact that the Giants would like to upset the party that is the opening of the Cowboys new stadium and you have a volatile affair.

The Cowboys registered eight sacks of Eli Manning and dominated in a 20-8 victory over the Giants in Week 15 of last season. DeMarcus Ware was at the fulcrum of that victory - wreaking havoc, Ware had three sacks and was a terror to handle for the Giants' offensive line. If Ware is able to generate that kind of pass rush again this Sunday night, it could be a difficult outing for Manning and New York's offense.

Offensively, the Cowboys were more impressive in the opening week with QB Tony Romo setting a career high in passing yards last week without a guy named Terrell Owens. Eight of his 16 completions went to his wide receivers, which shows he was getting the ball downfield. He had four passes of 40 yards or more. He needs to pick up the sinister Giants pass rush quickly but has some good outlet targets like TE Jason Witten to use as a safety valve.

The Giants looked sluggish on offence against the Redskins and despite jumping out to a 17-0 lead they struggled to put the Skins away. The ground game looked as good as ever and the Cowboys did look more vulnerable on the ground than through the air, but the Giants are still in transition with their receiving corps and that has not been helped by an injury to rookie Hakeem Nicks.

Dallas has won four of the past five regular-season matchups and have a lopsided 55-37-2 overall series advantage, including the playoffs.

Recommendation: Close but Cowboys go 2-0, 2pts win Dallas at [1.8]

Tags: Andy Richmond, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, NFL Betting, NFL Odds, NFL Tips, Tampa Bay Buccaneers