Eagles win defensive slugfest against Saints, 15-12

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - The New Orleans Saints battled the Philadelphia Eagles in a defensive slugfest on Sunday, September 22 in the Caesars Superdome.

Before things got underway, Drew Brees and Mark Ingram electrified fans with the pregame Who Dat chant.

The Saints defense got off to a hot start, recording a pair of sacks, an endzone interception, and a fumble recovery in the first half. The Eagles were held scoreless through two quarters after a Saints fourth down stop on a fake "tush push" handoff to running back Saquon Barkley, who was stuffed just short of the line to gain.

The Saints struggled to put it together offensively early on, with Blake Grupe's 34-yard field goal the only score of the first half.

Offensive lineman Erik McCoy suffered a groin injury less than 10 minutes into the game and was ruled out for the remainder.

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Things remained defensive in the second half. The Saints recorded another pair of sacks and blocked a punt.

Barkley ripped a 65-yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter to put the Eagles over the Saints, 7-3.

A 38-yard field goal from Grupe cut the Eagle's lead to one point. The Saints' first touchdown of the day game was a lofty 12-yard pass to Chris Olave in the back of the endzone with two minutes to go. A failed two-point conversation left the game at 12-7. Olave beat former Saints cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson and toe-tapped for the score.

A 61-yard pass to Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert on 3rd and 16 put Philadelphia inside the 5-yard line with just over one minute left in the game. Two Saints defenders ran into each other in the middle of the field, giving Goedert a wide-open lane.

Barkley scored his second touchdown of the day from four yards out and punched in the two-point conversion to give the Eagles a 15-12 lead.

On the first play of the Saints' final drive, Carr's pass to Shaheed was picked off to seal the game for the Eagles.