If you’re a fan of either the New Orleans Saints or the Philadelphia Eagles, this was a terrible Sunday for you. Neither team played well whatsoever, but in the end, the Eagles were able to pull off a late victory by a score of 15-12. The win moves them up to 2-1 on the season and drops New Orleans to 2-1 following their unbelievably hot start.
New Orleans Saints Offense Cools Down
Starting with the obvious here, the Saints’ offense cooled off entirely. Derek Carr completed 14 of his 25 pass attempts for 142 yards, a touchdown, and a game-sealing interception with one minute left in the game. Alvin Kamara rushed 26 times and turned that into just 87 scoreless yards as well, which is just over three yards per carry. All in all, this explosive offense we watched in the last two games completely disappeared and turned into the same offense we’ve watched the last few seasons now.
Injury At Center
One massive story that should be mentioned is that the Saints’ starting center Erik McCoy left the game at the end of the opening drive with a groin injury. McCoy never returned to the field, which is a huge point of concern. Why? Because he’s making everything operate smoothly up front. In the first drive with McCoy leading the way, the Saints had their best drive of the night, or at least the most efficient. They walked straight down the field and kicked a field goal, but after he went down, they didn’t score again until the fourth quarter. Plus, this was a terrible time for that to happen. The Eagles BIGGEST strength on the defense is their interior defensive line, which had constant pressure up the middle thanks to McCoy not being available. It also protected the Eagles from their biggest weakness being exposed, which was the secondary. This is what completely stifled the Saints’ passing attack early on.
Nobody Stepped Up Offensively
The last thing I want to point out with the offense is that nobody else stepped up today. Rashid Shaheed did not record a single catch on the day, Jamaal Williams had one rush for one yard, Juwan Johnson was invisible, and Foster Moreau had one catch for two yards. Couple all of this without the team’s starting center and Taysom Hill, and this offense looked like it was missing a lot of talent. This is the type of game that proved New Orleans needs more playmakers on this offense. I wouldn’t be opposed to a reunion with Michael Thomas, as he would fit quite perfectly into this group and the new offensive scheme.
Defense Was Unbelievable Again
Moving onto the defense now, there isn’t much to say about them except that they were fantastic. They pitched a shutout against this Eagles offense for about three quarters. They racked up multiple sacks, forced a fumble, forced an interception, picked up numerous stops on fourth down attempts, and even blocked a punt, and yet they were still tasked with staying on the field too much. It was almost unlucky, yet in a way, you knew that the Saints’ defense could only do so much before they broke a little bit. The Eagles finally got on the board when Saquon Barkley broke free for a 65-yard touchdown run up the middle. It was truly one of just two big plays that Philadelphia had all day, yet those two won the game. The second big play came with just one minute left, with the team stuck in third and 16 situations on a drive where they needed a touchdown. Dallas Goedert ran a simple cross just a few yards down the field, and THREE Saints defenders ran into each other. It created a massive hole for Goedert to rip off tons of yardage, and bring it to the goal line, where Barkley scored another touchdown and sealed the game.
This One Could Define The Rest Of The Season
This is one of those losses that sting. This defense did everything that they could have and just missed on two big plays that were just fluked. Having three defenders run into each other at the biggest stage of the game to leave a simple check-down open for 50 yards is unacceptable, and allowing Barkley to rip a near 70-yard rushing touchdown up the middle is even worse. Then again, that’s what happens when you have your defense on the field for the entire game, at one point being out there for 14 minutes in just the second quarter. The loss falls upon the shoulders of the offense, and even coaching. After the blocked punt, the Saints had a fourth and short in-field goal range and went for the first, then didn’t get it. Had they kicked the field goal, they would have been tied after the Eagles touchdown and went into overtime. Instead, they found themselves down three late.
It’s just one game. And look, every team across the league so far has had letdown performances. The San Francisco 49ers lost again, the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t look great against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Houston Texans were upset this week, the Baltimore Ravens JUST got their first win, etc. New Orleans has to learn from this and bounce back. Plus, the Eagles are NOT an easy team to beat, even with A.J. Brown out of the lineup. This was a needed reality check for this squad, and it will define them moving forward. If they come out flat once again next week against the Atlanta Falcons, then this team is trending heavily toward being pretenders as opposed to contenders.