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Eagles Dominant First Half, Run Game Helps Stop Saints Win Streak

The Saints get dominated by a powerful Eagles ground game and come up short on their second half rally.

John Hendrix

PHILADELPHIA -- The Saints winning streak is officially over after losing to the Eagles on Sunday. New Orleans rallied from an abysmal first half and made it interesting in the end, but in the end Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders carved them up on the ground and helped get a big upset win.

Game Recap

New Orleans started with the ball despite losing the opening coin toss, as the Eagles originally wanted to receive and then changed their mind. Their first offensive drive resulted in a quick three-and-out after going backwards on the first play, as it set the tone for the first half.

Jalen Hurts' first drive went pretty well for a while, as the Eagles chewed 8:11 off the first quarter. Philadelphia went for it on a 4th down play and converted. They'd march across Saints territory and get into a 3rd-and-1 situation, but an illegal shift followed by a false start penalty would force them into 3rd-and-11. Hurts picked up 9 yards and faced another 4th-and-short situation, but this time the Saints shut the door with Malcolm Jenkins to take over on downs.

The Saints first offensive drive went 36 yards in 8 plays, resulting in an eventual 45-yard missed field goal by Wil Lutz. New Orleans was moving the ball better, which was aided by a 18-yard hookup to Michael Thomas on the drive from Taysom Hill. Hill found Thomas a few plays later for a 3rd down conversion, but then missed Jared Cook on the next play and then failed to convert again.

Closing out the first quarter with new life, the Eagles got something going with Hurts, as he found Jalen Reagor for a big 39-yard pickup to close it out. It was a play where no Saints defender was even close, and he was wide open to catch and run with it. They'd cash in this time, as Hurts and company went for it on a 4th-and-2 from the Saints' 15-yard line that resulted in him hooking up with Alshon Jeffrey for the score to take a 7-0 lead with 13:25 until halftime.

The ensuing Saints possession saw them once again stall out after running several plays, narrowly missing pinning the Eagles deep in their own territory on the Thomas Morstead punt. The defense would do their part in stopping Philadelphia, but turn it over just two plays into their next offensive drive. Hill was pressured on a screen play, and threw a fastball to Alvin Kamara that was tipped up in the air and landed into the hands of Duke Riley. They'd have to settle for a 44-yard field goal from Jake Elliott, but extend their lead to 10-0 with 6:05 left in the half.

The Saints offense continued to struggle, as they came up short after starting well. It came down to a 3rd-and-1 call that saw Hill be the designed runner, but it went nowhere and force New Orleans to punt again. Thankfully, they did get a good bounce and pinned the Eagles deep inside their own territory. Hurts got them some breathing room on a zone read play, and two plays later Miles Sanders would go 82 yards to the house to extend the Eagles lead to 17-0 with 1:35 to play in the quarter. Luckily, the Saints wouldn't give up any points on the drive, as Jake Elliott doinked a 22-yard attempt off the left upright.

Going into the second half, Philadelphia started with the football and ended up going three-and-out, a break the Saints needed. They'd go on a 10-play, 65-yard drive that resulted in their first points of the game when Alvin Kamara took it in from 5 yards out to make it 17-7 Eagles with 7:55 left in the third quarter. Big plays to Kamara, Juwan Johnson, and Jared Cook helped the drive.

The Eagles next offensive possession saw them move the ball pretty well, going 35 yards in 9 plays that set up an eventual 4th-and-1 from the Saints' 40-yard line. Jalen Hurts would be denied on the QB keeper, with Kwon Alexander making a huge tackle after the interior defensive line stood their ground. On the drive, Mile Sanders would become the first rusher to get over 100 yards against the Saints defense, a streak that went for 55 straight games. It took New Orleans four plays and 1:23 to strike again, as Hill found Emmanuel Sanders for a 37-yard hookup to make it 17-14 Eagles. Hill hit Michael Thomas for 22 yards on the play before.

Philadelphia would run six plays on their next offensive possession, and would punt it back to New Orleans, pinning them at their own 5-yard line. The Saints would do a good job moving the football, marching into Eagles territory to set up a 4th-and-2 from the 42-yard line. However, their defense made a huge play by shutting the door, as Josh Sweat stripped Taysom Hill on a rollout and gave the ball back the ball with 9:49 left.

The Eagles would capitalize on the gamble, answering with a short touchdown of their own from Miles Sanders after going 53 yards in 6 plays for their drive. A 14-yard pass play to Greg Ward followed up by a 19-yard big reverse play to Jalen Reagor helped set Philadelphia up, as they'd take a 24-14 lead with 6:22 left in the game.

New Orleans came out fairly sluggish on their next offensive possession, often huddling up and not playing with an ideal tempo. It ended up forcing the Saints into a 57-yard field goal situation, which Lutz ended up missing, giving Philadelphia back the ball with 1:55 to go. Jalen Hurts would get stripped by Kwon Alexander while trying to close out the game, which would be recovered by Cam Jordan. 

It took New Orleans just three plays to get into the end zone, as Hill connected with Jared Cook for a 20-yard touchdown to make it 24-21. However, their onside attempt would come up short after several players had an opportunity to recover the football. Philadelphia would run out the clock, and end the Saints nine-game winning streak.

The Saints return home for Week 15 to host Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in an afternoon kickoff on CBS.

Published
John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net

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