The New Orleans Saints knew they’d eventually face adversity in 2024, and it finally came on Sunday afternoon, when they trailed for the first time all season.
To that point, the Saints’ offense, which had been prolific through the first two games, had been largely shutdown. And the Philadelphia Eagles, which had stumbled for most of the afternoon, finally got the big play they had been seeking: Star running back Saquon Barkley exploded for a 65-yard touchdown.
It would be on the Saints to respond — and they did, only for it not to last.
The Saints dropped a brutal 15-12 loss Sunday to the Eagles, squandering a five-point lead in the final minutes. After quarterback Derek Carr and Chris Olave gave the Saints a 12-7 lead with 2:03 left, the Eagles pulled off a stunning drive that saw tight end Dallas Goedert rip off a 61-yard gain on third-and-16 and Barkley score the game-winning touchdown with 1:01 left.
On the ensuing drive, Carr made a desperation throw under heavy pressure — and was picked off. Eagles safety Reed Blankenship grabbed the interception to seal the win for the Eagles, who improved to 2-1.
The Eagles came into the afternoon giving up 6.4 yards on the ground, but from the start, it became clear that the Saints weren’t going to experience the same sort of success in the run game. And it wasn’t for the lack of trying. Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak dialed up run after run for star running back Alvin Kamara, and repeatedly he was met by a swarm of Philly defenders.
It didn’t help matters for New Orleans that it lost starting center Erik McCoy on the third play of the game. After Kamara ripped off an 8-yard gain, McCoy writhed in pain and soon limped slowly off the field. He would later be ruled out with a groin injury – and New Orleans felt his absence.
When Carr was asked to throw, the Eagles’ defensive front often burst through the middle. At least three of Carr’s passes were batted down at the line of scrimmage, and on the ones that weren’t, the quarterback often found himself having to get rid of the ball quickly.
Carr was still sharp enough, however, to get the Saints into field goal range to begin the game. He hit Olave twice to help move the ball past midfield, and once in the red zone, the Saints found themselves having to settle for a 34-yard field goal.
Grupe barely made the field goal. His kick hit the upright, but ball doinked back in to give the Saints a 3-0 lead.
The margin turned out to be all the defense needed for the first half.
Drive after drive, the Saints’ defense found ways to make stops. Sometimes, it was with relentless, dominating effort like on Philly’s opening series when Alontae Taylor and Carl Granderson crushed Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts for the sack. On other drives, the Saints came up withtimely turnovers: safety Tyrann Mathieu picked off Hurts in the end zone and later, Granderson recovered the Hurts fumble he forced when he stripped the quarterback on a scramble.
But the Eagles also deserve a lot of credit for their futility. Philadelphia repeatedly put themselves in tougher-than-needed situations with sloppy penalties. The Eagles were penalized seven times for 45 yards, which put the offense behind the chains and killed drives.
Coach Nick Sirianni made several controversial decisions, none more than his choice late in the first half to pass up 3 points and have the Eagles stay on the field for fourth down.Lined up in their signature “Tush Push” formation, Philadelphia chose to hand off the ball to running back Saquon Barkley rather than attempt to push Hurts across – and Barkley was wrapped up short of the first down.
But the Saints had an opportunity to shut the door on the Eagles – and couldn’t.
In the second half, Safety J.T. Gray gave the Saints great field position when he blocked an Eagles punt that Jordan Howden recovered at Philadelphia’s 27-yard line. If the Saints had scored, it would have given them a double-digit lead with a quarter to play.
Instead, the Saints couldn’t convert even a first down. On that series, Taysom Hill’s absence was badly felt. Needing just a yard on third and fourth down, Kamara was stuffed twice short of the chains. New Orleans, too, tried to get creative when they motioned Carr outside to have Kamara take a wildcat snap that ultimately went nowhere.
The stop gave the Eagles life, and they pounced. With 13:25 left, Barkley had just enough room to take off and went untouched on a 65-yard touchdown run that saw the running back reach 21.66 mph.
After that, the Saints had two more chances to score a touchdown that would give them the lead. They ended up with points on each drive. Grupe hit a 38-yarder to make it 7-6, and following the Eagles’ missed 60 yarder, Carr delivered with a 12-yard touchdown to Olave.
But the Eagles responded anyway, and now the Saints will have to find a way to regroup after experiencing adversity for the first time this season.
