Eagles’ defense was tired of ‘embarrassing themselves,’ so they vowed to dominate in win vs. Saints

When Saints quarterback Derek Carr dropped back on second-and-4 with 55 seconds remaining, he was swarmed by Eagles defensive ends Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat and threw across the middle of the field where he was picked off by safety Reed Blankenship .

Blankenship's interception capped off a dominant defensive performance in the Eagles' 15-12 victory over the Saints on Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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The Eagles' defense has been criticized for its poor play this season, including allowing the Falcons to score a game-winning touchdown last Monday night at the end of the fourth quarter. During the first two games, the Eagles couldn't stop the run, didn't create pressure and gave up too many explosive plays.

The Saints, who averaged a league-high 45.5 points per game before Week 3, were expected to score a lot of touchdowns again. However, the Eagles made adjustments to slow down their offense, including providing constant pressure on Carr.

Overall, New Orleans only finished with 219 total yards and one touchdown.

Eagles defenders looked more comfortable playing in Vic Fangio's scheme compared to the first two games. Defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter wrecked the Saints' interior offensive line, linebacker Zack Baun finished with a team-high 13 tackles and rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell had two pass break ups.

Now, the Eagles could win a few extra games this season because their defense might not be bad.

"Man, the confidence comes from ourselves," Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson said after Sunday's game. "We got to believe in ourselves. Everybody said, 'Oh, we are coming in against the number one team and all this.' Man, listen, at the end of the day, it's football. It (was) only Week 2. How are you the best offense and the best team if it's only been two weeks played. ... We had to tune out the noise and understand who we were and go out there and play Eagle ball. That's what happened."

Before wide receiver Chris Olave caught a 13-yard touchdown with just over two minutes remaining, the Saints had only scored six points on their first eight drives.

Carter, whom the Eagles selected in the first round of the 2023 draft, disrupted two of their possessions.

On the Eagles' opening defensive drive, Carter used a swim move to beat Saints guard Cesar Ruiz and batted down Carr's pass on third-and-14 to force a field goal. At the beginning of the second quarter, he broke up another pass on third down and forced a punt. He beat Ruiz again on the first play of that drive and forced Carr to chuck his pass into the turf.

He finished with four tackles, including two tackles for loss, and got a quarterback hit.

Even though he dominated the Saints' offensive line, Carter was harsh in his assessment.

"Trash," Carter said when asked to describe his performance on Sunday. "I still don't like how I played, but I know we played well as a team today. That's one thing. I'm happy about that."

"I don't know (what would make me happy)," Carter added. "I got to be Khalil Mack and get like six sacks in one game. Nah, I'm just playing. I don't know, man. I love sacks. I know that's big. I love tackles. Just getting the dub as a team makes me happy, but I still got to see more out of myself."

The Eagles need Carter and Davis to be productive at the same time. Eventually, teams will begin to double team Carter, which means Davis could get more one-on-one opportunities.

In the first quarter, Davis looped around Saints center Lucas Patrick to sack Carr.

"The defense played unbelievable," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "That's a good offensive line. We played on their side of the line of scrimmage an awful lot. Jalen Carter played his butt off. Jordan Davis played his butt off when everyone was doubting them all week. 'What are we doing? Why are we drafting these guys?' I've heard it all. ...

"They responded because they didn't care what anyone thought. ... All you can do is control yourself. You are always going to have people saying different things about you. They went out there and played their but off all week. Vic Fangio put them in a great spot all week. (Eagles defensive line coach) Clint Hurtt put them in a great spot by the way he drilled them. He was on their butt all week."

Prior to Week 3, Philadelphia's defense gave up a league-high 6.4 yards per carry, ranked 25th against the run (157.5 yards per game) and allowed 11 runs of at least 10 yards. Fangio used a 6-1 and 5-1 defensive front to combat the Saints' rushing attack led by Alvin Kamara, who only averaged 3.3 yards per carry and finished with 87 yards.

During the fourth quarter, Graham pushed Saints rookie offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga back into Kamara to slow down his progression, and Baun tackled him short of the first-down marker on fourth-and-1 from Philadelphia's 18.

If Graham and Baun didn't combine to make that play, the Saints could have taken a 10-0 lead.

"We talk about it every week," Carter said. "We want to stop the run. We brought the defensive tackles and defensive ends together and said, 'Yo, this is the week (to stop the run). We did bad the first two weeks. We are not trying to embarrass ourselves no more.' It showed today."

The Eagles' defense picked the right time to step up because the offense and special teams units struggled.

Philadelphia finished with three turnovers (an interception, a fumble and a blocked punt) and failed to convert two fourth downs, but the defense made a big stop after each mistake and didn't give up a single point.

"They kept us in the game," Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata said. "What a way to respond. Jesus, it was just play after play, guys just making plays for one another. That's what you need out of your defense, and they f****** showed up tonight."

The Eagles gave up a season-low in passing yards (219), rushing yards (89) and yards per play (4.0) against the Saints. After struggling against the Packers and Falcons, they learned from their mistakes and have become better for it.

"I didn't see Zack Baun get cut (block) today. Why? Because he worked his butt off to do it," Sirianni said. "I didn't see Jalen Carter getting scooped on the backside because we saw him in the backfield a lot.

"That's what I'm talking about with this response. Having the right mindset. I could talk about this all day long and this mindset that you have after adversity happens to you. That is life. These guys learned good lessons. I've taken so much joy in not only teaching them lessons of football, but lessons of life. They taught themselves that today and just how to respond when s*** goes bad in their life."