The Eagles entered the Ceasars Superdome with their backs against the wall after a big week 2 blunder. The team has seemed so disorganized on both sides of the ball which applied a ton of pressure for the team to clean it up in week 3. The Saints on the other hand have been red hot with scoring 91 points in their first two games of the season.
To start the first half, the Eagles’ defense played with great effort and consistency. They locked down the Saints’ run game and held Alvin Kamara to under 50 yards in the first half. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis joined Zack Baun in helping disrupt this high-octane offense.
The Saints couldn’t establish themselves after only scoring 3 points in the first quarter. As for the Eagles’ offense, the team struggled to find a rhythm as it looks like they can’t figure out what to do without A.J. Brown. Jalen Hurts had an interception and a fumble that didn’t backfire on the Eagles due to their stout defense.
Jalen Hurts could barely find anyone open at times while the run game was a bit nonexistent in the first half as Barkley barely saw the ball. The offense was haunted by hot and cold play calling along with terrible decisions on fourth down. Which seems to have carried over from the Falcons loss.
In the second half, the defense continued to right. They held the Saints to the bare minimum while the offense fought to find their way. The Eagles had a big scare as DeVonta Smith went down after a big hit from a defensive lineman to his back.
When all hope seemed lost, Saquon Barkley broke off a 65-yard rushing touchdown against the Saints defense that hadn’t given up a touchdown of 10+ yards all season. This was the moment that every Eagles fan had been waiting for as Barkley showed just how much of a difference-maker he truly is. At this point in the game, Saquon Barkley had 143 rushing yards on 15 attempts with one touchdown.
With 12 and a half minutes left in the game, the Saints’ offense looked like they were getting their groove back as Kamara started to find holes in the Eagles’ defensive front. Carr and Kubiak attempted to rely on the play-action pass but Fangio and his pass rushers found their way to disrupt it. It was a big pass to Alvin Kamara that opened up the game for the Saints’ offense.
The Eagles defense was able to apply enough pressure and force the Saints to settle for the field goal after some good plays from Alvin Kamara. With 9:49 left in the game, the Eagles would have a 7-6 lead with the opportunity to put their foot on the throat of the Saints. Unfortunately, Philly’s offense could not come through as Hurts and the injury plagued offense failed to respond against a very stingy Saints’ defense.
With 6:41 left to go, the Saints offense fought to find their way. The pressure by the Eagles defensive line forced Carr to scramble for four yards. Kamara tried his hand as he rushed for 2 yards on second down leaving the Saints with a big call on 3rd and 4. Kamara was able to answer once his number as called again as he got enough yards for a first down BUT Saint’s offensive lineman Trevor Penning held Darius Slay and pushed him into the Saints bench. Costing the Saints 15 yards on that penalty.
It wasn’t enough to stop the Saints as they continued to figh forward after the big penalty. With Slay out of the game, Kelee Ringo was the target of Derek Carr as he dished it Chris Olave for 29 yards. With the Eagles’ defense looking gassed, the Saints relied on Kamara to help lead them into the red zone. With two minutes left in the game, the Eagles were up against it once again as Derek Carr found Chris Olave once again but this time for a touchdown to give the Saints a 12-7 lead after a failed 2-point conversion.
When all seemed lost in the Eagles final drive, Jalen Hurts found Dallas Goedert on 3rd and 16 for a huge 61-yard gain to put the Eagles in the red zone. Now with the Eagles knocking on the door, the called on Saquon Barkley, who bulldozed his way into the end zone for a touchdown. Philly would go for the two-point conversion and succeed to bring the score to 15-12 as Barkley sliced through the Saints defense again.
With nothing but tension building all over the Superdome between Saints and Eagles fans, Derek Carr and the Saints’ offense were hoping for a big play to help them finish strong. Unfortunately for the Saints, Carr would throw his only interception of the game to Reed Blankenship to seal the game for the Eagles. The defense showed up big in New Orleans and bails out an offense that is continuing to find their way early on.
The Eagles were bailed by an improving pass rush and two big games out of Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley. Barkley finished the game with 147 rushing yards and two touchdowns while Goedert finished with 10 receptions for 170 yards. Big play from two of the four big playmakers helped keep the offense balanced enough for the win.
The Eagles will now look build on this big win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in another road game next Sunday at 1pm.
REUTERS/Carla Carniel
