Despite it being a low scoring game, there was action throughout this game. The Saints led 3-0 at halftime; for the first time in seven years, the Birds had a scoreless first half. Hurts had two turnovers in Saints territory in the first half, one of them being an interception in the end zone. They had the chance to kick a field goal to tie it before the half, and despite losing by one point after leaving three on the board last week, Sirianni decided to go for it and run a fake tush push that got stuffed at the line of scrimmage. The second half was much more high-scoring and had some EXPLOSIVE plays. The Eagles came into this game without AJ Brown and lost DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Mekhi Becton, and Darius Slay by the end. Philadelphia lost on a game-winning drive and game-sealing interception last week, and this week, they WON on a game-winning drive and game-sealing interception after Dallas Goedert had a 61 yard catch and run to set up a Saquon barkley TD with a minute left in the game.
The Defense Has Arrived
In the game preview I wrote for this week, I said this defense will have to look like a whole new unit if they want to stop the Saints. They did just that. The main area we saw change was the run defense. The Eagles allowed the most YPC in the league with 6.4 but held Alvin Kamara to just 3.3 a carry. Overall, they held the Saints to 89 yards on 29 carries. The D-line did a much better job getting to the QB, even though it may not show it on the stat sheet. The team only had one sack, coming from big man Jordan Davis, and had four QB hits. Carr did a good job throwing the ball away when pressured.
The Eagles secondary looked sharp all game. The Saints couldn't get the run game going and found no success in passing until late. On the first drive, the Saints converted on two third and longs, but after that, the Birds didn't allow another third down conversion through the air. Carr was leading the league in passing TDs coming into this week, and Philly held him to only one, and it came late in the fourth quarter after Darius Slay was injured after being carried and thrown out of bounds by Saints LT Trevor Penning. Reed Blakenship also iced the game with a diving interception, his second of the year. If this defense shows up every week, the league could be in trouble.
Mistakes and Poor Decision-Making
This game shouldn't have been close, and despite a great second half and a win, we still have to call out the blemishes in this game. Jalen Hurts passed for 311 yards, completing 76% of his passes, but yet again had trouble protecting the ball. On Philadelphia's second drive of the game, they were moving downfield, going 66 yards in just five plays. On third down at the Saints 11-yard line, Hurts threw a pick in the end zone targeting DeVonta Smith. The Eagles' next drive, at the Saints 40-yard line, Hurts was the victim of a strip sack and lost the fumble. That's 6-14 points left on the board due to turnovers, all in the first half, where the Eagles put up a donut. Jalen Hurts has the most turnovers in the league since the start of 2023, with 26.
The Eagles won this game DESPITE Nick Sirianni. Last week, Philly lost by one after Nick had left three points on the board in the first half. Instead of learning from his mistake, he doubled down on it, going for it on fourth down in field goal range TWICE, and then finally decided to let Jake Elliot try a 60-yarder, which he missed. The first failed fourth down came on the Birds' final drive of the first half, at the Saints 15-yard line with 14 seconds until halftime. With the opportunity to tie the game just before halftime, Sirianni decided not only to go for it but also to call a FAKE tush push that got shut down.
The second failed fourth down was on the Eagles' first drive of the second half at the Saints 34-yard line. The Birds drew up a pass play that resulted in a sack. That's six points left on the board on top of the points left by Hurts turnovers. Assuming both Hurts' turnovers end in a field goal, that's 12 points left on the board, and if they did score touchdowns on those turnover-ending drives, that's 20 points left on the board, which is even more than the Eagles actually scored.
As for the missed 60-yarder, why does Nick take some of the blame for that? If you're finally in the mindset of taking a field goal, WHY, on third down, would you not hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley to get you 5+ yards closer and make it a much more manageable field goal from your kicker, who had only seen the field once all game on a PAT. It's just like last week when Sirianni considered it four down territory; he passed on 3rd & 4 instead of running it, which with one of the best backs in the league would have most likely resulted in a 4th & 1 or 2 if not a first down, which would set up a tush push. Week by week, more and more Eagles fans are calling for Nick Sirianni to be fired for good reasons.
Offensive Playmakers
With AJ Brown missing his second straight game, most people expected DeVonta Smith to be the one putting up big numbers, and while he's been playing well all season, somebody else took over on Sunday. Dallas Goedert went OFF, dropping 170 yards on the Saints' heads. That 170 yards includes a 43 yard contested catch and the 61-yard catch and run that set up what would end up being the game winning TD. Goedert wasn't surprised that the play succeeded after the game, saying, "It's one of those situations where we are in man-to-man defense. It doesn't matter if it's third and 90 (yards) or third and three. We believe in us." He's the only man who could make Eagles fans say, "Go Dallas."
Saquon Barkley, yet again, had another huge performance after not getting a single touch in the first quarter. Barkley accounted for 14 of the Eagles' 15 points, scoring two tuddies and running in a 2-point conversion. Barkley's first touchdown was the definition of explosive, taking it 65 yards to the house. What made this play even sweeter was it came right after the Saints got away with an extremely dirty helmet-to-helmet hit on DeVonta Smith that popped his helmet off and took him out of the game. Barkley now leads the NFL in rushing yards with 351 yards and is tied for the most total touchdowns with five.
Final Score: Eagles 15, Saints 12
Dixon's Three Stars
1st Star- Jalen Carter (4 Tackles, 2 TFL, 2 PD, 1 QB Hit)
2nd Star- Saquon Barkley (17 Carries, 147 Yards, 2 TDs, 8.6 ypc)
3rd Star- Dallas Goedert (10 Receptions, 170 Yards)
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