Saints Handle Eagles, Powered by Big Defensive Effort

The Saints move to 7-9 on the season after handling the Gardner Minshew-led Eagles in Philly.

The Saints have now won three straight games after knocking off the Eagles to ring in the new year. New Orleans had a tremendous showing in the first half and were doing some strong things on the offensive side of the ball to have a nice halftime lead, and they survived a Philly comeback attempt to have the defense close out the game again to improve to 7-9 on the year.

Game Recap

The Saints started on offense after the Eagles won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half kickoff. New Orleans proceeded to piece together a 15-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly 9 minutes off the clock to get into the end zone via a 1-yard Taysom Hill touchdown run. Chris Olave and Taysom Hill got involved early and often, as Olave had 3 catches for 31 yards. Andy Dalton went 5-of-5 for 40 yards, while Taysom Hill also completed his lone pass for 7 yards.

New Orleans forced a three-and-out on the opening defensive series, getting sacks from Kaden Elliss and Carl Granderson on the drive. The Saints offense was moving the ball very well on their next drive, getting several key 3rd Down conversions. However, as the second quarter started, the drive would stall out after Dalton was sacked a second time. 

The Blake Gillikin punt would pin the Philly offense at their own 10-yard-line, and New Orleans would force another three-and-out. Cam Jordan would pick up another sack for the Saints defense on a 3rd-and-1 play that Gardner Minshew tried to run on. The offense would piece together a short 5-play, 22-yard drive that saw Wil Lutz boot through a 54-yard field goal to make it 10-0 with 8:30 left until the half. 

The Saints defense had another stellar drive on defense, forcing another three-and-out and notching another sack in the process. Carl Granderson picked up another one on the year, giving the Saints their fourth of the day and getting the ball back with 7:00 to play in the second quarter. New Orleans didn't disappoint on offense, being able to extend their lead to 13-0 after a 20-yard Wil Lutz field goal. The 7-play, 68-yard drive was fueled by a big Dalton to Rashid Shaheed 58-yard hookup. However, the drive would stall out near the goal line, but the damage was done.

New Orleans forced yet another three-and-out on defense and was threatening to put points up before the half ended, but a bad decision by Andy Dalton led to a Saints interception at the Eagles' 25-yard-line. Philadelphia finally got their first first down of the game with 11 seconds left in the half, and then added a late 25-yard gain to DeVonta Smith to close the second quarter out.

Second Half

The Eagles came out of the locker room and remembered they were 13-2, piecing together a strong offensive drive that featured some strong back-to-back runs by Miles Sanders and receptions from DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. Landon Dickerson got called for a costly holding penalty on Kentavius Street on a 28-yard touchdown run by Kenneth Gainwell, and they'd get a Jake Elliott 56-yard field goal to put their first points of the game on the board to make it 13-3 with 10:58 in the third quarter.

New Orleans ran a three-and-out on their first possession of the second half, and Philly had an ugly-looking drive on their next series after starting strong with the run again. They had back-to-back false starts, and got another false start to go into a 3rd-and-13 that ended up seeing Minshew overthrow DeVonta Smith and led to a punt back to New Orleans with 4:49 left in the quarter. It was a short one too that went just 26 yards.

The Saints offense came out strong on their first play, which was a 15-yard outside run by Alvin Kamara. However, the next few plays were an unfortunate sequence, which saw New Orleans get backed up after a Fletcher Cox sack on Dalton that set up a 3rd-and-20. Philadelphia took over with 2:14 to play in the quarter deep inside their own territory after another big play made by J.T. Gray.

Unfortunately for the Saints, it took just three plays for the Eagles to bust things wide open after Gardner Minshew hooked up with A.J. Brown for a 78-yard touchdown after he beat Paulson Adebo with relative ease to make it 13-10 with 45 seconds left in the third. New Orleans would run just a few plays and give it right back to the Eagles after Dalton was sacked for a sixth time to end their series.

New Orleans was able to respond defensively after a tough series, forcing an Eagles punt and getting the ball back with 12:03 left in the game. A costly ineligible man downfield penalty backed Philly up, and they never recovered from it. Marshon Lattimore almost had a pick on the 3rd-and-15 play. They responded with a three-and-out after Dalton got sacked yet again, and then was followed up by an Erik McCoy false start penalty to force them into a 3rd-and-23.

As Philly took over with 10:01 to play, they ran 4 plays and failed to get a first down after gambling with a Minshew sneak on 4th-and-1 from midfield. Demario Davis made a great play defensively to negate him from getting to sticks, and New Orleans took over with 8:35 left in the game. 

New Orleans only bled a little clock off on their next possession, as they tried a gadget play that led to a Taysom Hill sack, and then there was a costly drop by Juwan Johnson on the following play. They punted back to Philly, pinning them inside their own 10-yard-line, and that's when Marshon Lattimore made a tremendous play to read Minshew for a pick-six with 5:27 to play to make it 20-10 Saints.

Philly had a very tough outing on their next offensive series, having to go for it on a 4th-and-22 to help stay alive, but they failed to convert and the ball ended up going back to New Orleans with 3:35 to play. On the defensive drive, Cam Jordan made some history by becoming the team's all-time sack leader.

A heavy dose of Taysom Hill was used on the team's next drive to help bleed to clock, and New Orleans got a couple of first downs on their final drive to ice the game and eventually kneel out the clock.

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