New Orleans head coach Sean Payton knows the Eagles aren't the same team that absorbed a 48-7 shellacking to the Saints on November 18 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Eagles have won six of their last seven games since that low point in the season and are in the early stages of preparing for Sunday's NFC Divisional Playoff game against the NFC's No. 1 seed.

"Situationally, they're playing well. They're playing well in the red zone, defensively and offensively," Payton said on Monday in a press conference with New Orleans reporters. "I think they're obviously a different team than we faced earlier in the year. A different quarterback is playing right now. I think there is a confidence you see. The one on the road was a big one for them in L.A. You just go through the games and you go through the win streak and you have Houston next, at Washington, at Chicago. They've kind of been in a playoff role really going back to those games needing to win to get in. So it's impressive."

Among the many changes for the Eagles since that game is a new quarterback. Carson Wentz is out as he recovers from a stress fracture in his back, replaced by Nick Foles. Wentz had one of the worst games of his young NFL career in the loss to New Orleans, completing 19 of 33 passes for 138 yards and three interceptions. Foles has won four straight games since replacing Wentz in the lineup and has been dynamite in clutch situations.

Payton has long followed Foles and he admires what the quarterback is doing.