Saints vs. Eagles: New Orleans Grades, Notes and Quotes

The New Orleans Saints went to Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field hoping to earn their second straight win, but coach Sean Payton’s club was overwhelmed in the second half by the Eagles in a lopsided 39-17 defeat.

With the loss, New Orleans fell to 1-4 on the season, while Philadelphia improved to 2-3.

The Saints got off to a decent start in the game and drew first blood with a Drew Brees-to-Benjamin Watson touchdown pass on their second possession. New Orleans made a defensive stop on the Eagles’ opening drive, and the Saints came up with consecutive interceptions in their own end zone on Philadelphia’s next two possessions.

The offense was unable to get anything going for the remainder of the half, however, and the Eagles took a 10-7 lead into the locker room. Philadelphia outgained New Orleans in first-half yardage, 300-130.

Brees and Co. mounted a drive on their opening possession of the second half but were unable to punch it into the end zone on a 1st-and-goal from the 10-yard line. Zach Hocker’s 21-yard field goal tied the game at 10.

After that, the wheels came off for Payton’s squad, as the Eagles took flight and went on a 29-7 run to end the game. Philadelphia scored points on each of its last six possessions, ringing up three touchdowns and three field goals as coach Chip Kelly’s fast-paced offense flexed its muscles against a visibly tired Saints defense.

With the game well in hand for the Eagles, New Orleans added a touchdown on the game’s final play, as Brees found Brandin Cooks in the back of the end zone.

Read on for a closer look at the Saints’ Week 5 loss, which was New Orleans' 14th defeat in its last 22 games.

Grades

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

QB	F
RB	C
WR/TE	C-
OL	F
DL	F
LB	D
DB	C
Special Teams	D
Coaching	F

Offense

Drew Brees reverted back to his 2014 habit of committing costly turnovers, coughing up the ball for two fumbles and tossing an interception.

Sure, the Saints signal-caller made some nice throws, but his three turnovers led to 16 Eagles points and essentially buried New Orleans’ chances of escaping with a win.

While Brees’ blunders did major damage to the Saints’ cause, he certainly wasn’t helped by poor pass protection from a patchwork offensive line.

New Orleans allowed five sacks, three of which came courtesy of Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox. At the end of the day, Philadelphia had amassed seven hits on the quarterback and seven tackles for losses, as New Orleans struggled to adjust to the absences of left tackle Terron Armstead and right guard Jahri Evans.

In his first NFL start, first-round draft pick Andrus Peat held his own on multiple occasions but at others looked very much like a rookie.

A week after a standout performance against the Dallas Cowboys, the New Orleans backfield was essentially a non-factor in this one. Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson combined for 87 rushing yards at an average of 5.1 yards per carry, but their impact was diminished as the game wore on and the Eagles continued to increase their lead.

The New Orleans receivers had their difficulties getting separation against Byron Maxwell and the feisty Philadelphia secondary. Second-year man Willie Snead continued his rise as one of Brees’ favorite targets, however, and turned in a six-catch, 141-yard performance. 

On the whole, it was a tough day for the once-feared Saints offense. The unit did little to help out the team’s young defense, which was in over its head in trying to handle the pedal-to-the-metal pace of the Philadelphia offense.

Defense

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s unit gave up a whopping 519 yards, as the Eagles’ uptempo offense stockpiled 34 first downs while running 79 plays from scrimmage.

The Saints started strong, snagging two picks and making two fourth-down stops on the Eagles’ first four possessions. Delvin Breaux and Brandon Browner each reeled in an interception for New Orleans. Breaux’s pick was an impressive diving grab in the end zone, while Browner’s was largely the result of a poor throw from Bradford.

The fun wouldn’t last long, however, and with the Saints offense sputtering, the defense was unable to keep the clamps down on Bradford and the Eagles.

Philadelphia’s sweep play was particularly damaging to the New Orleans defense, as Ryan’s group was never able to consistently set the edge. As a result, Eagles backs DeMarco Murray, Ryan Matthews and Darren Sproles combined for 183 yards on the ground.

As for the New Orleans pass rush, it was nonexistent on Sunday, as Bradford enjoyed exceptional pass protection all game. In fact, the Saints failed to deliver a single hit on the quarterback, other than a sack by Cam Jordan that was negated by a penalty.

While the defense received little help from Brees and the offense, the Saints can’t expect to win many games when they don’t so much as touch the opposing passer.

Despite the poor overall showing, Saints linebacker Stephone Anthony continued to improve at the “Mike” spot. The rookie finished second on the team in tackles with nine, including one for a loss, although fellow rookie linebacker Hau’oli Kikaha failed to make an impact this week.

With promising first-year players such as Breaux, Anthony and Kikaha, the Saints boast some talented young defenders, but as is the case with the offense, there appears to be more going wrong than right on defense.

Saints Commit 4 Turnovers

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

New Orleans gave the ball away four times (three fumbles and an interception) Sunday, and the turnovers led to 19 Philadelphia points.

Granted, the first turnover was questionable, as Brees’ knee appeared to be down before coughing up the ball after a Fletcher Cox sack. The New Orleans signal-caller isn’t without blame on the play, however, as he held on to the ball far too long.

The second fumble was also Cox’s handiwork. The Philadelphia end blew past Andrus Peat for his second sack-fumble of the game, as Brees coughed it up for a second time.

It goes without saying that four turnovers isn’t going to get it done at any level of football. If the Saints are to be competitive in their remaining games this season, they simply can’t afford such a high number of negative plays.

New Orleans Plagued by Penalties

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

While the Saints took it on the chin in the turnover battle, they also came up on the short end of the stick in the penalty department.

New Orleans racked up seven flags on the day for 78 yards, with five of the penalties resulting in Philadelphia first downs. One costly penalty wiped out a rare sack from Cam Jordan, although the Saints defensive end committed a blunder of his own by roughing the passer on a key Eagles touchdown drive in the third quarter.

Excessive miscues have plagued these Saints since their first preseason game in August. While an occasional mistake is tolerable, Payton’s squad has been flagged at least seven times in all five regular-season games, and there hasn’t been any noticeable improvement.

Drew Brees on the Saints' Struggles This Season

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Drew Brees spoke about the team’s struggles during his portion of the team’s postgame press conference, which was posted on the Saints' official site:

"

I don't want to hear anything about youth. I don't want to hear anything about talent. I don't want to hear anything about anything other than what we have to do to win this game. We have great leaders and guys who want to do the right thing, guys want to be great and so it's frustrating when you're sitting here at 1-4 saying we're not getting the production out of that.

"

Brees is usually optimistic, even after a Saints loss, but his comments after the Eagles game reveal the disappointment that comes with starting 1-4.

Whether or not the Saints can turn it around remains to be seen, but their season is now dangerously close to being beyond repair.

With the 5-0 Atlanta Falcons coming to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome Thursday night, New Orleans has just a few days to regroup, put Sunday’s loss behind them and prepare for a rivalry matchup with one of the NFL’s top teams.