The Saints gave up 300 yards in the first half against the Eagles, but they only trailed by three points because the Eagles couldn’t finish their drives.
They kept giving up yards to open the third quarter, but bend but hope the other guys break backfired on them. Ryan Mathews scored from a yard out and the Eagles went 80 yards on nine plays to grab a 17-10 lead.
During that drive, FOX cameras caught Saints coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan having an animated conversation that was presumably focused on the defense’s inability to stop an offense that hasn’t exactly been cooking with gas this season.
As they’ve done all day, the Eagles mixed runs and passes well to make their way down the field and they got a little help from a roughing the passer penalty on Cameron Jordan on the way to the end zone. They got a little more on the ensuing Saints drive.
Fletcher Cox sacked Drew Brees for the third time and stripped him for the second time to set up the Eagles deep in New Orleans territory. Sam Bradford hit Brett Celek for a touchdown shortly thereafter and now lead 23-10 after Caleb Sturgis missed an extra point that won’t do much to help his job security whether or not it comes back to haunt the Eagles.