Eagles-Saints Stock Market: Defensive Dominance, Dallas' Day, And Saquon's Home Run

The Eagles highlighted the fool's gold of a small sample size when they shit down the Saints.

Sep 22, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) calls a play at the line against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at Caesars Superdome. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Just how everyone drew it up.

In hindsight, the "high-powered" Saints offense never had a chance against a Vic Fangio-led Eagles defense intent on a market correction after two weeks of getting gashed.

The Eagles' defense allowed just 219 yards to a team that has been averaging 45.5 points per game over the first two games.

Ironically, the Saints' reliance on traditional play action with maximum protection played into the Eagles' hands because Philadelphia could play its 50 fronts far more often which resulted in improved run support and put Derek Carr in third-and-longs during a grind-it-out 15-12 comeback win for Philadelphia (2-1).

The always-energetic C.J. Gardner-Johnson, making his return to New Orleans, the team that drafted him in 2019, summed it up afterward:

"They ain't no contenders they're pretenders," Gardner-Johnson yelled in the locker rrom. "They have Derek Carr remember that."

Carr finished 24 of 25 for 142 yards with a touchdown and a game-sealing interception by Reed Blankenship.

THE BULLS

PERSEVERANCE - The Eagles came into the game minus All-Pro receiver A.J. Brown and lost receivers DeVonta Smith (concussion) and Britain Covey (shoulder), right guard Mekhi Becton (finger), right tackle Lane Johnson (concussion), and cornerback Darius Slay (leg) in the game but still managed to find a way. The Saints, meanwhile, lost star center Erk McCoy on the third play of the game and never really adjusted well.

Despite losing the entire right side of the offensive line Philadelphia did just fine with Tyler Steen at RG and Fred Johnson at RT. Dallas Goedert also had a career game with the team down so many wideouts, hauling in 10 receptions for 170 yards, including a 61-yard gain of a mesh concept that set the Eagles up for the win which brings us to...

THE DALLAS GOEDERT GAME - Hope was virtually lost on a 3rd-and-16 with no Brown, Smith, or Covey on the field and just 1:16 to go when offensive coordinator Kellen Moore pulled put a mesh concept where Jahan Dotson was able to rub out two defenders as Hurts hit Goedert over the middle.

Once the athletic tight end turned the corner he wasn't stopped until he was 61 yards down the field. The play set up a 4-yard Saquon Barkley run that proved to be the difference.

GOEDERT GETS 61 YARDS ON 3RD & 16!

📺: #PHIvsNO on FOX
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— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024

Dotson noted that Moore installed the concept this week because of the Saints' extensive use of man coverage.

“It’s crazy, we were running it all week because we knew they were going to play a lot of man," Dotson told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "And I wasn‘t running it right at the beginning of the week. Countless reps during practice ... and we got it right in the game for two big explosives. It’s really cool to be a helping hand in the game-winning play. That’s kind of my role here: ‘By any means necessary.’ However it has to get done, I want to contribute."

60-MINUTE MAN - We've noted the relentless of Jalen Hurts in the past and the ability of the Eagles' quarterback to push the envelope for 60 minutes continues to be a problem for opposing defenses, something Nick Sirianni again expressed after the game.

"Jalen Hurts is a winner. He wins," Sirianni said. "...He knows it's the sum of all the plays that says who you are — not just one play. ...He's a quarterback and this guy is a freaking winner. He won at Alabama. He won at Oklahoma. He's been winning here over, and over, and over, and over. We're the Philadelphia Eagles so we understand we're going to get criticism. But this dude is a freaking winner. Jalen Hurts is a winner. And he won today."

THE SAQUON SHOW - Barkley finished the game with 147 rushing yards on 17 carries and two rushing TDs, one a home run of 65 yards. The Penn State product has been more than the Eagles could have hoped for and given the team a foundation they haven't had since Shady McCoy when the passing game isn't necessarily there for whatever reason.

THE BEARS

MIXED SIGNALS - Sirianni's over-aggressive mindset was a problem on Sunday, particularly on a 4th-and-1 when the Eagles eschewed the tush push and tried to get cute with a sweep to Barkley that the Saints sniffed out. Turns out Sirianni took the call out of Moore's hands which opens up the idea that it could happen again.

"Just so anyone's wondering: Kellen on that 4th-and-1 at the end of the half. I called that — not Kellen. so I called that play at the end of the half not Kellen," Sirianni said. "That's what I thought was best for the football team in that particular case. That was my decision. I did it. It didn't work, and we'll get better. I'll get better. from it. That's a play I thought was working the best in that situation in that particular case and it didn't work. It's not on Kellen, it's not on the players. I put them in a bad spot. I made that call."

Sirianni could also be trying to protect his guys, something he did in Seattle last year when Hurts and Brown went rogue and cost the Eagles a game. Either way, the lack of transparency could create problems for CEO head coach who has been making some curious decidions early this season.

PLAYIN' THE HITS - It's a tired narrative but Sirianni also tapped into the us vs. them mentality that has been a calling card of this organization since the Doug Pederson ears.

"I heard it all. I've heard everything. I mean, I try not to listen, but I gotta come talk to the media five times a week, so you hear it all," Sirianni said of the criticism he and his team faced after a Week 2 collapse against Atlanta. "And [the players] responded because they didn't care about what anybody thought of me. And then when they weren't riding with them when we were losing, they ain't gonna ride with us when we win."

It sure seems like the opposite and far too many in the organization care far too much about talking heads outside the building.

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