Eagles Defense Stands Up To Secure A Win in Big Easy
- Kenny Pete, Contributor
The Philadelphia Eagles had a lot of questions to answer going on the road to face a red hot Saints team that posted over 80 points in the first 2 games of the season. Would the Eagles defense be able to stop a this powerful of an offense? What adjustments will the team make after last week's late collapse vs Atlanta on national television? Would they in fact 'run the damn ball'?
The 1st half was largely a defensive showing from both teams. At the end of the 1st half Eagles coach Nick Siriani chose to go for the 1st down in the red zone when he should have just called for 'automatic' Jake Elliot to kick an easy FG but alas , what would we talk about all week if it was just that easy.
Saquon Barkley had another great showing with over 100 yards in total offense & a big rushing td early in the 4th quarter. Brother is in his prime & the best he has ever looked out there. Dallas Goedert stepped up to fill the gaps with AJ Brown out with a hamstring injury.
Eagles CB Darius SLAY missed a few plays with a knee injury after Saints OT Trevor Penning blocked SLAY 10 yards out of bounds & over a camera person, gaining a 15 yard penalty , most likely receiving a fine by the league (that news will drop tomorrow) & basically an admission that he is a very soft, weak person to commit a flagrant penalty on another man half his size. That's real small Penning energy there.
Devonta Smith left the game with a concussion early in the 4th quarter , as well as offensive tackle Lane Johnson who also left the game with a concussion and has yet to clear nfl protocol as of this writing. If Johnson is unable to go on Sunday vs Tampa Bay (1pm on FoX) look for Fred Johnson to get the start at left tackle, who played very well vs New Orleans last Sunday.
The Eagles were effective in stopping Saints rb Alvin Kamara, holding him to 87 yards on 26 attempts with zero touchdowns. Jalen Carter needs to perform like he did on Sunday on a consistent basis.
With both of the Eagles starting WRs & starting LT looking doubtful for Sunday, the team is going to have its hands full with a dangerous Tampa Bay team looking to stack every win they can get. Let's hope someone has encouraged Siriani not to overthink superfluous moves that don't need to be made, some would say 'keep it simple', which works to get points on the board & win football games.