Game Recap: Eagles vs. Saints

NEW ORLEANS – Amazing. There aren't many games like the one the Eagles played on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome, a tense, defensive affair that exploded in the fourth quarter in a 15-12 Philadelphia victory. This game had everything – physical play, huge moments, scoreboard-changing swings, injuries, a test of the depth, and all you could imagine in between.

The Eagles, on a short week and after a heartbreaking loss on Monday night, took to the road in a raucous environment and scored 15 points in the fourth quarter – a Saquon Barkley 65-yard touchdown run, a Barkley 6-yard touchdown run set up by a 61-yard catch-and-run pass from Jalen Hurts to tight end Dallas Goedert on a shallow cross that opened when Saints defenders ran into each other and Goedert sped down the left sideline all the way to the New Orleans 6-yard line with just over one minute remaining in the game, and then a Barkley two-point conversion to give the Eagles a three-point lead.

And then the Eagles' defense, in a situation almost exact to the one they faced on Monday night in the loss to the Falcons, rose up and put pressure on quarterback Derek Carr, who launched a second-and-4 pass from the New Orleans 36-yard line intended for wide receiver Rashid Shaheed over the middle, but safety Reed Blankenship made a diving catch for the interception at the Philadelphia 41-yard line.

Not until the replay officials upheld the interception call on the field was the game over, and then the thousands and thousands of Eagles fans in attendance showered the building with E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES! chants.

What a huuuuugggggeeee win.

"Resilient team. Resilient men on this team," Head Coach Nick Sirianni said following the Eagles' first win in New Orleans since the 2007 season. "Last week was rough. Last week our men had to pick themselves up from the mat, and they did that. Sometimes, from losing, you grow a little bit more from that.

"Just a special team win today."

Sirianni went on and on about how so many players told him "they had his back" during the game, how the team rallied around each other in every way – the Eagles started the game without wide receiver A.J. Brown and lost wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Britain Covey, offensive linemen Lane Johnson and Mekhi Becton and cornerback Darius Slay during the course of the contest.

And they won a game in the most adverse of circumstances. Here are some observations from a win that moves the Eagles to 2-1 with a full week to prepare for Sunday's game at Tampa Bay, another team knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 26-7 loss at home to Denver.

1. Let's start with the defense, a group that had been widely criticized all week: The Eagles dominated defensively. They won the line of scrimmage, they were physical, and they were sound in their assignments. Jalen Carter destroyed the Saints' interior, finishing with four total tackles, two for loss, and two passes deflected. The numbers don't even come close to telling the whole story, and Carter was not alone. New Orleans took its opening possession 54 yards in 15 plays, gaining four first downs. The rest of the way, until midway through the fourth quarter, New Orleans gained 4 first downs and 44 total net yards and finished with 219 yards and 12 first downs. The Eagles raced to the football and took it to the Saints. Linebackers Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean were all over the field. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis was outstanding, as were Milton Williams, Thomas Booker, and Moro Ojomo. The edge players did their job, limiting running back Alvin Kamara to 87 yards on 26 carries and 3 receptions for 40 yards.

"I mean, the defense played unbelievable," Sirianni said. "That's a good offensive line. We played on their side of the line of scrimmage an awful lot. Jalen Carter played his butt off, Jordan Davis played his butt off when everybody had been doubting them all week."

2. More on the defense: The Eagles limited New Orleans to one touchdown in three red zone trips, a real key to the victory, and the defense had a key fourth-down stop after a blocked punt set the Saints up at the Philadelphia 30-yard line to start a drive. Great step forward for the defense and Vic Fangio.

3. Wide receiver/returner Rashid Shaheed was averaging more than 24 yards per reception coming into the game, but the Eagles blanketed him. Shaheed had zero receptions on five targets.

4. Goedert was a monster all game, catching 10 passes for 170 yards on 11 targets. He lined up all over the formation, had a ton of YAC yards, and made up for the losses of Brown and then, in the third quarter, Smith (evaluated for a concussion). Great game for Goedert and a reminder that he is an elite, outstanding tight end who needs to be involved in the offense every week.

"It feels really good and I'm really excited to see where we can go," Goedert said. "It felt good getting touches this week, but I'm going to do whatever I can do to help this team win. I love blocking, too."

Goedert said that on the big 61-yard play, wide receiver Jahan Dotson did a great job setting a legal pick, forcing the Saints' defensive players to collide, and then it was off to the races.

5. The Eagles moved the ball well the entire game, even though it took them until the fourth quarter to put their first points on the board. Hurts threw an interception in the end zone. He fumbled the ball away at the New Orleans 46-yard line later in the first half. The Eagles went for it on fourth down twice when they were in field goal position and failed to convert, and early in the fourth quarter, they needed a big play. They got it from Barkley, who burst through a hole between the tackles and outran the New Orleans defense for a 65-yard touchdown to give the Eagles the lead, finally. Chunk plays – the Eagles are looking for them any way they can get them and Barkley delivered. He finished with 147 yards and the two touchdowns on 17 carries.

"The game wasn't going our way, but we just never, never gave up," Barkley said. We just kept trusting each other, kept grinding. We see our teammate (Smith) go down with a late hit, which I believe, and we rallied. We rallied behind him to go out there and grind out for Smitty. All phases, especially defense, played lights out and we found a way to win."

6. This was a game of attrition and some young players stepped up on the offensive line. Right tackle Lane Johnson (concussion) and right guard Mekhi Becton (finger) left the game in the first half, and Fred Johnson stepped in at right tackle and Tyler Steen replaced Becton at right guard and both more than held their own. Credit goes to both players and to the coaching staff for getting both players ready to go, and now the Eagles know a lot more about their depth along the offensive line. Really, the Eagles never skipped a beat there. The depth along the offensive line showed and that is great to know moving forward.

"Next-up mentality," Goedert said. "We lost a couple of O-linemen before halftime and Fred and Steen played incredible. Fred had a great block on Saquon's long touchdown run, being able to cut the guy off, we were able to hit a gap. That just shows how good our coaching staff is and how much we believe in everybody. It doesn't matter who's in there, it's next-man-up mentality, and it's all we got, it's all we need, so just shoutout to everybody that was able to step up. Parris (Campbell) made some big plays when we needed him. It really takes a team. It doesn't always go the way people want it to, but when their number's called, it seems they're able to do what they need to do."

7. A big shoutout to Hurts, who made some mistakes (two turnovers) but then was great in the fourth quarter with a lot of pressure on him and backups throughout the offense. Hurts completed 29 of 38 passes for 311 yards and he gained another 25 yards on the ground. The Eagles rolled up 460 total yards of offense against a very strong New Orleans defense.

"This guy is a freakin' winner," Sirianni said of Hurts. "He won at Alabama. He won at Oklahoma. He's been winning here over and over and over and over. You know what, we're the Philadelphia Eagles, so we understand that we're going to get criticism, but this dude's a freaking winner. Jalen Hurts is a winner and he won today."

"It's a team effort that's full trust on everybody's part," Hurts said. "I'm just proud that we learned from the situation last week. … Everybody stepped up today. Everybody stepped up today and we responded to adversity. We communicated well and there was never a doubt."