Saquon Barkley's 2 fourth-quarter TDs lift Eagles over Saints in a defensive 15-12 thriller

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Saquon Barkley and the Eagles emerged from a flood of Philadelphia-style scrutiny and delivered a masterclass on grinding out — and closing out — a physical, defensive struggle in which a lot went wrong before it ended just right.

Barkley rushed for fourth-quarter touchdowns of 65 and 4 yards, and the Eagles rebounded from a maddening late-game collapse six days earlier to beat the previously surging New Orleans Saints, 15-12 on Sunday.

“Last week was rough. Our guys had to pick ourselves off the mat, and every one of them did,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said, alluding to a 22-21 home loss to Atlanta on Monday night. “You have to overcome those things. I’m so proud of those guys that they did."

Barkley's shorter scoring run came with 1:01 left, one play after Dallas Goedert got free across the middle on third-and-16 for a 61-yard catch and run that gave him a career-high 170 yards on 10 receptions.

Barkley's 147 yards rushing and clutch scoring runs brought him no small measure of redemption after his failure to make what could have been a game-sealing catch against the Falcons.

“When things like that happen, everyone thinks the world’s ending, but it really doesn’t matter what the outside world thinks,” Barkley said. “Today, we kept trusting each other and kept having each other’s back.”

Eagles safety Reed Blankenship sealed the victory by intercepting Derek Carr's pass over the middle with 48 seconds left, capping a banner performance by Philadelphia's defense against an offense that had scored an NFL-high 91 points during the regular season's first two weeks under new coordinator Klint Kubiak.

“You knew adversity would happen at some point. It’s not going to be that easy all the time," Carr said, adding that he regretted not throwing away the second-down pass that Blankenship intercepted. “At the very end, they made one more play than we did and that’s how this game goes sometimes.”

The Eagles (2-1) did not allow a touchdown until Carr found Chris Olave for a 12-yard, go-ahead score with just more than two minutes left. That gave the Saints a 12-7 lead after a failed 2-point try.

The Eagles looked the better team on both sides of the ball, outgaining New Orleans (2-1) in total net yards, 460 to 219. But a number of curious decisions by Sirianni, along with some clutch plays by the Saints’ defense, kept the Eagles off the board for three quarters.

Hurts finished 29 of 38 for 311 yards passing and scrambled for 25 yards. But he also turned the ball over twice in the first half, intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu in the end zone and losing a fumble on a sack by Carl Granderson.

The Eagles again threatened to score late in the second quarter, only to come away empty when they eschewed a field goal on fourth-and-1 from the New Orleans 15 with just 14 seconds left.

Defensive end Chase Young and linebacker Pete Werner stuffed Barkley’s run, preserving the Saints’ 3-0 lead at halftime.

The Eagles twice drove into Saints territory in the third quarter, only to fail on fourth-and-short and then have an illegal substitution penalty contribute to a stall near midfield.

But after J.T. Gray’s block of Braden Mann’s punt gave New Orleans the ball inside the Philadelphia 30, New Orleans stalled out on their own fourth-and-1 failure when they otherwise could have tried a field goal late in the third quarter.

“I was trying to win the game and I felt like we needed to be able to get a yard," Allen said. “They did a better job up front than we did.”

Barkley’s long run came four play’s later to make it 7-3.

“He kind of cut back to the left and there was nobody there,” Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu said, noting that an untimely blitz left few defenders in position to pursue the Eagles' star running back. “It’s like, off to the races. Great play by him, great vision by him.”

Already missing receiver A.J. Brown, the Eagles lost Devonta Smith early in the fourth quarter on a hit by defensive tackle Khristian Boyd that knocked the receiver's helmet off as he tried to prevent two other Saints defenders from bringing him to the turf.

What appeared to be a concussion-causing, helmet-to-helmet hit came after Smith's seventh catch, giving him 79 yards receiving for the game.

That drive wound up stalling when the Eagles elected to try a 60-yard field goal by Jake Elliott, who missed.

Carr finished 14 of 25 for 142 yards. Saints running back Alvin Kamara rushed for 87 yards on 26 carries and Olave caught six passes for 86 yards.

Injuries

Eagles: WR Britain Covey left with a shoulder injury. ... RT Lane Johnson left with a concussion in the first half.

Saints: Versatile TE Taysom Hill (chest) was ruled out two hours before kickoff. ... C Erik McCoy limped off the field with a left groin injury on the game's opening possession and could not return. ... RG Cesar Ruiz received attention for an apparent lower body injury in the fourth quarter.

Up next

Eagles: Visit Tampa Bay on Sunday in a third straight game against an NFC South opponent, and second straight on the road.

Saints: Visit Atlanta on Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Brett Martel, The Associated Press