Eagles Defense Makes A Statement In New Orleans

If you lost faith in the Eagles' defense after the first 2 games, you could be forgiven. They may not have given up many points, but they were getting gashed all night long in both games. There was no pass rush to speak of, they were the worst run defense in the league, and there were far too many big plays. It came to a head when they let the Falcons easily go down the field for a game-winning TD at the end of the Monday Night game.

So with the hottest offense in the league on the docket in week 3, very few people expected them to figure things out. It turns out we all should have expected exactly that.

The Saints came in averaging over 400 yards per game, and over 40 points per game. Today, they scored just 12 and gained just 219 yards.

Jalen Carter had his best game of the season. He did not get credited with a sack, but he was in Derek Carr's face all game long, got 2 pass deflections, and had multiple tackles at the line or for a loss.

The linebackers were making plays all over the field. Jordan Davis got a sack and was dominant in the run game. The secondary shut down the Saints' explosive passing attack, and as a team, they held Alvin Kamara to just 3.3 yards per carry.

They gave up 54 yards in the first drive and allowed a FG. From that point forward they gave up just 175 yards and a single TD. With that lone TD coming on a short field after a missed FG. Even after giving up that TD, they managed to stop the 2-point conversion to ensure the following Eagles TD won the game.

Reed Blankenship closed out the game with a big interception. Darius Slay had a key pass breakup. Quinyon Mitchell continued to look like a star at cornerback and almost came up with a pick 6.

A lot of these guys, Carter and Davis in particular, took a lot of heat all week. But they showed up today. That is the Jalen Carter people think can win DPOY one day. It is the guy who many thought should have been the 1st overall pick. If they keep getting him, and Jordan Davis looks this good next to him, this Defense can continue to make statements like they did today.

The win came with its downsides though. Lane Johnson and DeVonta Smith left with concussions. Mekhi Becton and Britain Covey were also knocked out of the game. Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen filled in admirably along the line, but that is 3 big pieces of the offense they may be missing now in week 4, with AJ Brown already questionable for the Bucs game.

On defense, they lost Darius Slay. Saints Tackle Trevor Penning made a blatantly dirty play after the whistle, pushing Slay into the sideline. We don't know if any of these injuries will carry into week 4, but they may actually end up being grateful for the early bye week with how beat up they already are.

Another guy who took a lot of heat this week was Dallas Goedert. He hardly had an impact in week 2 with AJ Brown out. Well, he heard what you said, and he took it personally.

10 Catches for 170 yards, a new career-high mark in both categories. That includes his 61-yard catch and run that got the Eagles down to the 4-yard line in that final drive, and set up the game-winning Saquon Barkley TD.

Speaking of Barkley, he added 2 more TDs to his Eagles resume, along with 147 yards on 17 carries. It puts him at 351 rushing yards on the season, 53 receiving yards, and 5 total TDs.

The Eagles offense moved the ball all game long. Some questionable decisions by Nick Sirianni, and a couple of bad turnovers by Jalen Hurts, kept them off the board for most of it. But they did get a big TD at the end of the game. Hurts, when he wasn't turning it over, looked good.

They are still figuring this offense out, and are dealing with some key injuries. But the pieces, as long as they are healthy, are there, and we are seeing signs of a dangerous squad.