For the second time this season, the Philadelphia Eagles lost at the Superdome to a Saints’ team that they simply could not keep up with.
The last game of the season for the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles somewhat epitomized the year for a club that wound up being a big disappointment. Doug Pederson’s club started 2018 strong with a victory over the Falcons but never really recaptured that championship form despite qualifying for the playoffs for a second straight year.
On Sunday at the Superdome, the Birds got a quick takeaway early in the game and before you could say “a cheese steak with the works,” the club opened up a 14-0 first-quarter lead. But the host New Orleans Saints would score the final 20 points of the contest and Pederson’s team won’t be getting sized up this offseason for more Super Bowl rings.
Give credit where it’s due: The Eagles got hot late in the year and overcame a 4-6 start to reach the postseason. But for the second time in a nine-week span, an afternoon ended with a loss in the Big Easy. And a look at the numbers in the two games shows how Sean Payton’s team actually toyed with Philadelphia in both contests.
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On Sunday, the Birds gained 151 total yards on 17 plays and scored two touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game. For the remainder of the afternoon, there was nothing special about the Philly offense, which was shut out and gained only 99 yards on 30 plays.
For the game, the Eagles were outgained by 170 total yards (420-to-250). And the Saints’ defensive unit did pick off Nick Foles twice, both interceptions by Marshon Lattimore. Philadelphia had the football for just 22:10, the Saints a gaudy 37:50.
Harken back to the Eagles’ 38-7 loss to the Saints in Week 11. Carson Wentz was intercepted three times in a 48-7 setback. But it was the New Orleans’ offense that made Jim Schwartz’s defensive unit look bad. Payton’s team outgained the Birds by 350 yards (546-to-196) and once again had the ball for more than 37 minutes.
In eight quarters of football at the Superdome in 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles were outscored by a combined 68-21 count and lost the total yards decisively, 966-446. And the Birds were not able to repeat as NFC East champions this season, much less get back to the conference title game.
Pederson and company have some things to sort out this offseason if they are to make a serious Super Bowl run in 2019.