They were missing 40 percent of their offensive line, including All-Pro Lane Johnson, Devonta Smith missed the game along with AJ Brown and Nick Sirianni made one bizarre call after another.
And the only weapons the Eagles had left, Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert, kept them from losing.
Barkley’s 65-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and Dallas Goedert’s 61-yard catch at the 4-yard line late in the fourth quarter gave the Eagles a 15-12 win over the Saints after the Saints had taken the lead shortly before.
Though they haven’t yet pitched a complete game, the Eagles have managed to go 2-1.
oh.
It’s never easy with this team, right?
Here are our 10 immediate observations on the big conference away win.
1. Turnovers are still a concern, but Jalen Hurts really came out big on Sunday and helped the Eagles win a game they could have easily lost. And he did it with almost half of his offensive line missing. Hurts completed 76% of his passes for 311 yards and a touchdown on a day where he made some big passes under pressure and did it behind an offensive line missing Mekhi Becton and Lane Johnson and missing both Smith and Brown. The Superdome is a loud, tough place to play and this was a game the Eagles really needed to win and it was a game Hurts needed to win. I still believe he is an elite quarterback, but it is natural and understandable to wonder about him after the first two games. He wasn’t very good in some key moments. But this was a classic Jalen Hurts play. He made key passes in key moments, stayed confident through adversity and led the Eagles to a win when the going was really tough. If Jalen Hurts continues to perform well, the Eagles will win a lot of games.
2. So how good is Saquon Barkley? He’s good. And his reaction six days after that heartbreaking drop that cost the Eagles a win against the Falcons was amazing. He’s a total pro. He has a great combination of speed, power, balance and vision that, as far as I’m concerned, pretty much answers any questions about his performance over the last few years with the Giants. Through three games, he’s been an absolute beast. He ran 17 times for over 147 yards on Sunday, and through three games, he has rushed 63 times for 351 yards, three touchdowns and 10 catches for over 53 yards and another touchdown. 404 scrimmage yards through three games. That’s the most for the Eagles through Week 3 since LeSean McCoy had 514 in 2013. Outside of Shady, only four Eagles running backs have recorded 400+ scrimmage yards in three games: Timmy Brown, Wilbert Montgomery, Duce Staley and Brian Westbrook. What I really like about Saxon is how tough he is late in the game. He’s so physically strong that he can play as well on his 25th touch as he did on his first, which is rare. Keep feeding him the ball and he’s going to make big plays. And on Sunday, he made a lot of big plays.
3. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter today: 0 sacks, 0 tackles for loss, 0 pass breakups, 0 quarterback hits. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter vs. Saints: 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups, 1 quarterback hit. The monster performances from Georgia’s two inside linemen were really encouraging. Davis in particular hasn’t had a game like this since early last year. This defense can’t be elite unless Davis and Carter both play at a high level, which is something we haven’t seen in a long time. But when they play like this? When they dominate the line of scrimmage? When they play like the beasts the Eagles expected when they drafted them in the first half of the first round? We all saw on Sunday what a defense can be when Davis and Carter play inspired football. Now they just need to keep it up.
4. Can someone please explain what on earth Nick Sirianni was thinking on 4th down and 1 yard line with 15 seconds left in the first half and the ball at the Saints 14 yard line? Saquon Barkley got jammed trying to find space on the left wing, the Saints took the ball and took a knee, and the Eagles headed to the locker room scoreless. Down 3-0? If you get a first down, you kick a field goal because it’s highly unlikely you’ll get more than a field goal. So why risk that 4th down for? Even if you get a first down, the ball is still at the 13 yard line and Sirianni will no doubt say that if you don’t get a touchdown, you want a new set of downs to take one shot at the end zone before kicking a field goal. Realistically, the way this game played out, points are valuable and after a dismal first half, getting 3 points gives you something positive to work towards before heading to the locker room. And just to let you know…fourth down and five from the Saints’ 35, midway through the third quarter…still down 3-0…Jake Elliott has eight field goal attempts from 53 yards and makes seven…They try it, Hurts gets sacked. On that field, a 53-yard shot is a layup. Being aggressive is great. Being wrong is bad. And Sirianni’s in-game decisions are becoming more and more puzzling.
5. We were all wondering when Dallas Goedert would become a big part of the offense, but 10 catches for 170 yards isn’t bad. Goedert was a big focal point of the offense at first, but once Devonta Smith left and AJ Brown joined him on the sideline, he just blew it. He had catches of 22, 30, 43 and 61 yards, which is crazy. He’s been in the league for eight years, and on Sunday he had two of the four longest catches of his career. Those 170 yards are the most by an Eagles tight end in the 59 years since Pete Retzlaff had 204 yards in a game in 1965 at Franklin Field. Not even Zach Ertz had a 170-yard game. It was a great performance from a guy the Eagles desperately needed. The point is, Goedert needs to continue to be a big part of the offense when the Eagles get back to full strength. He has 69 yards in the first two games and is too good to play a small role on this team. He is still a star player and he played when he had to play. It was a very important performance.
6. Reid Blankenship is good at getting the ball, and even on teams that don’t force turnovers much, if he’s near the ball, he’s going to find a way to make a play. And these aren’t easy interceptions. He’s made circus interceptions, diving interceptions like he did Sunday, high-leverage interceptions at key moments in the game. It started when he intercepted Aaron Rodgers in his first game, and he’s now the first Eagles defensive back with six interceptions in his first 28 games since Eric Allen, who had 12 in his first 28 games in 1988 and 1989. And he’s a kid who wasn’t drafted. Blankenship is the first Eagles player to have six interceptions in his first 28 games as an undrafted player since Brainard Wilson in 1979 and 1980. The Eagles have had 11 interceptions since the 2023 opener. Blankenship has had five of them. He’s a playmaker.
7. Nakobe Dean stopped Alvin Kamara on the first play of the game, not allowing a gain, and the Eagles’ run defense looked better than it had in the first two games. The Saints tried to keep Kamara moving. That was the game plan. And you can’t blame them after the Eagles allowed 6.5 yards per carry in the first two games. But the Eagles did a great job shutting down Kamara. There was nothing new tactically, but they certainly played Bryce Huff a lot less on running downs (or downs overall) than they used to. They were more disciplined, more physical, more gap-sounding, and had more guys on the ball. In the first two games, the backs were running through the first level and the Eagles were missing tackles at the second level. On Sunday, the defensive line only allowed a few runs through the first level, and when they did, the Eagles’ linebackers and defensive backs tackled really well. Honestly, their defense looked completely different, and it was remarkable to see them play like that against a back like Kamara, who came into the game with an NFL-best 5.7 rushing average. He had 87 yards on 26 carries, averaging 3.3 yards per carry with a long gain of 16 yards, but it didn’t really matter. The Saints kept attacking and the Eagles kept stopping him.
8. For a CEO head coach like Nick Sirianni, one of the biggest challenges is leading a team through adversity. Lost leads. Bad games. Big point differentials. Sirianni was really good at that in his first two years. This team has been incredibly mentally strong when they have had to deal with adversity. Think about the 2021 season. How they turned a 2-5 start into a playoff appearance. And what Sirianni has done in 2022. He seemed to lose that magical touch last year as a promising season turned into a nightmare with blowout losses and lost leads. Then came another late loss on Monday night against the Falcons. So it’s fair to wonder if Sirianni’s ability to really communicate with his players and get them through the bad times has run out. But this was a win without many key players, including two starting receivers, the right side of the offensive line and their best cornerback, and a game in which the Eagles handed over a lead in the fourth quarter. But this was the type of game the Eagles didn’t win last year, and Sirianni may not be ready to lose to this team just yet.
9. The Eagles’ weird giveaway-takeaway streak now stretches to 11 games without a win, the third-longest in franchise history behind 15 straight games in 1967 and 1968 and 12 straight in 2012. They’ve won two games this year while losing the turnover battle, but they can’t sustain that kind of success. They just can’t. They’re minus-13 over their last 11 games, minus-4 already this year, and minus-19 since Week 6 of last year. This is a key statistic that measures both their offense and defense with ball protection and playmaking. If this team can find a way to stop the turnovers (mostly from Jalen) and create more turnovers, they’re going to be tough to beat.
10. You have to give credit to players like Fred Johnson, Tyler Steen, Parris Campbell, Johnny Wilson, Jahan Dotson and Kelly Lingo, who were forced into bigger roles than expected. The Eagles, already without AJ Brown, lost Lane Johnson, Mekhi Becton, DeVonta Smith and Darius Slay during Sunday’s game, but all of the reserves did a great job. I especially think Johnson and Steen (right tackle and right guard) were big. They both played great, but those two haven’t played that many games in their careers. Campbell isn’t even on the roster. After being cut and going to the practice squad, he was called up on game day and caught two passes. Wilson caught his first career pass and got a first down. These guys deserve a lot of credit, but so do the position coaches who prepared them for when they had to play. The Eagles wouldn’t have won this game if the reserves hadn’t come in and played well. It was a true team win.
You can subscribe to Eagle Eye wherever you get podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube