The Philadelphia Eagles were on the verge of a second straight disappointing loss on Sunday.
But a big downfield play from Jalen Hurts to Dallas Goedert set up the go-ahead touchdown to secure a 15-12 thriller over New Orelans.
The Saints took a late 12-7 lead on a Derek Carr touchdown pass to Chris Olave with 2:03 remaining. They then forced the Eagles into third-and-16 on the ensuing Philadelphia possession. But Hurts found Goedert for a 61-yard gain on a crossing route.
Goedert rumbled down the left sideline to the 4-yard line, setting up Saquon Barkley’s second touchdown of the day with 55 seconds remaining. Reed Blankenship then intercepted Derek Carr on the ensuing Saints possession, allowing Philadelphia to run out the clock on the win.
With the victory, the Eagles log a 2-1 start after blowing a late lead to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. They overcame two turnovers, a blocked punt and two failed fourth-down attempts to secure the win.
With the loss, the Saints fell to 2-1 and saw a previously scorching offense that posted 91 combined points in a 2-0 start fall back to Earth.
Saints can’t capitalize on multiple Eagles mistakes
Philadelphia’s defense held New Orleans out of the end zone until Olave’s touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter. It looked then like mistakes would doom the Eagles to a 1-2 start. But the late heroics from Hurts, Goedert and Barkley ensured victory.
New Orleans struck first with a 15-play drive on its opening possession. But the Eagles stopped the Saints on third-and-14 to force a Blake Grupe field goal and set the tone for an unexpected defensive struggle.
The Eagles went three-and-out on their first possession. Hurts then threw an interception in the end zone to Tyrann Mathieu to short-circuit a would-be scoring drive.
Philadelphia’s third possession ended with another Hurts turnover. This time, Carl Granderson forced a fumble on a second-down strip-sack near midfield.
But the Saints couldn’t convert on the turnovers. The Eagles limited them to a total of 21 yards on their possessions after the turnovers, both of which ended with punts.
The Eagles then had a chance to tie the game before halftime with a 15-play, 78-yard drive. But head coach Nick Sirianni opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 with 15 seconds remaining instead of attempting a game-tying 33-yard field goal.
The Saints came up with the stop. Hurts lined up behind his offensive line in tush-push formation on fourth-and-1. But he handed the ball off to Barkley on a sweep that Saints defenders sniffed out to maintain a 3-0 first-half lead.
Philadelphia then started the second half with another failed fourth-down gamble. This time, defensive tackle Bryan Bresee sacked Hurts from fourth-and-3 at the New Orleans 34-yard line.
Philadelphia’s next possession ended with more frustration, this time on special teams. The Saints blocked a punt from midfield to set New Orleans up in prime scoring position at the Philadelphia 27-yard line.
Eagles defense delivers
But once again, Philadelphia’s defense came through to keep the Eagles in the game. New Orleans went for it on fourth-and-1 at the 18-yard line. Philadelphia’s defense swarmed the line of scrimmage and stopped Alvin Kamara for no gain for a turnover on downs.
At this point in the game, the Eagles had lost a fumble, thrown an interception, had a punt blocked and turned the ball over twice on downs. The Saints managed just a 3-0 lead despite it all.
And this time, finally, the Eagles offense made New Orleans pay. Barkley ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the ensuing Eagles possession to get Philadelphia on the board with a 7-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Saints responded with a field goal and Carr’s touchdown pass to Olave on their next two possessions to retake the lead with 2:03 remaining.
But the late third-down conversion on the 61-yard Goedert catch set up the second Barkley touchdown run of the day in what turned out to be the decisive score.
Saints fall back to Earth
The Saints scored 47 and 44 points, respectively in wins over the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys to start the season. On Sunday, the Eagles limited New Orleans to 261 yards and a single touchdown.
After averaging 5.7 yards per carry and 99 rushing yards per game in Weeks 1 and 2, Kamara needed 26 carries to reach 87 yards (3.3 yards per carry) against Philadelphia’s defense. Carr averaged 221 passing yards with five touchdowns and just one interception in Weeks 1 and 2. The Eagles limited him to 142 yards on 5.7 yards per attempt with a touchdown and an interception on Sunday.
Barkley, meanwhile, continued a resurgent season in Philadelphia with 147 rushing yards and two scores.
It wasn’t the prettiest win for the Eagles, who raised plenty of questions around their offensive execution and decision-making on Sunday. But it was a win nonetheless that kept them out of a 1-2 hole. They have their defense and clutch running by Barkley to thank for it.
