The New Orleans Saints lost a heartbreaker to the Philadelphia Eagles 15-12 on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.
Here’s three things we learned from the game:
The defense couldn't finish
All good things must come to an end, but the heartbreaking, last-minute loss was particularly difficult to stomach for Saints fans, who packed the Superdome and did their best to carry the home team.
After playing lights-out for most of the afternoon, the Saints defense couldn't protect a 12-7 lead with the game on the line in the final 2 minutes.
With the Dome at a fevered pitch, they couldn't stop the Eagles from marching 69 yards in five plays to score the go-ahead touchdown. Saquon Barkley's 4-yard run with 1:02 left was the game-winner.
The late score was particularly disappointing when you consider that it came at the hands of an injury-depleted Eagles offense that was missing star receivers Davonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
The lone playmaker left on the perimeter was tight end Dallas Goedert and his 61-yard catch-and-run against the Saints' man-to-man defense proved to be the backbreaker, setting up Barkley's game-winner.
The heart-breaking loss came after New Orleans led for most of the game and robbed the Saints of becoming just the eighth team in franchise history to start a season 3-0.
The offense returned to Earth
Maybe it was another brilliant game plan by veteran Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
Or maybe it was the absence of Taysom Hill and the early injury to Erik McCoy.
Whatever the reason, the Saints offense looked nothing like the explosively dominant outfit that lit up the Panthers and Cowboys in Weeks 1 and 2.
After making everything look easy in their first two games, the Saints made just about everything look difficult against the Eagles. They had to wait until the final minutes of game to finally dent the end zone.
Fangio had the Eagles front seven well-schooled against the Saints’ rushing attack. Yards were hard to muster all afternoon. The Saints rushed for only 89 yards and averaged only 3.1 yards a carry.
They were outgained 460-219 in total yardage and the Eagles had 20 first downs to the Saints' 12.
The Saints clearly missed Hill’s multiplicity, which is a big key to offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s attack. And the loss of McCoy to a groin injury on the third snap from scrimmage forced the Saints to scramble up front, moving Lucas Patrick to center and sliding Oli Udoh in at left guard. As a result, the Saints leaned heavily on Alvin Kamara, who had 14 of the team’s 19 touches in the first half.
No answers for Goedert
The Saints defense played stellar for most of the day, but it had no answer for Goedert, who finished with 10 catches for a career-high 170 yards. The veteran tight end had seven catches for 80 yards in the first half alone.
Defending the tight end was a question mark for the Saints defense entering the game. Carolina and Dallas played with backup tight ends because of injuries so neither team was able to threaten the Saints at the position.
Dennis Allen and the Saints defensive coaching staff will have to back to the drawing board to see why Goedert was so successful against them because opposing offenses are surely going to notice this going forward.
