New Orleans Saints Secure Tough 48-22 Victory Over Philadelphia Eagles On The Road, Improve To 2-0 for The First Time Since 2006
By Keith Null
If the Saints were not considered a contender for the NFC crown they should be now after a hard fought victory over the very game Philadelphia Eagles.
The Saints were a dismal road team last season posting a 2-6 record away from the dome, but this is 2009 and definitely a very different team.
New Orleans marched into Lincoln Financial Field and pardon the pun “laid the smacketh down” on gang green, 48-22, in possibly the harshest road environment around.
Eagles fans are a tenacious bunch and very, very loud which wreaks havoc on opposing offenses — although the black and gold weathered the storm nicely.
That’s not to say the Eagles didn’t give the Saints all they could handle through the first half, managing to pick Brees off once and sacking him twice while applying consistent pressure.
It remained a heck of a close game going into half-time after the Eagles brought the score within four points, 17-13, after a field goal with :43 seconds left.
After the break it was seemingly a no contest as the Saints managed to force four turnover’s (1 fumble, 3 interceptions) in the second half of the game while scoring four touchdowns and a field goal of their own.
The defense only surrendered one more touchdown to the Eagles ofrfense, holding firm on several red zone stands. This unit is quickly ranking among the leagues elite defensive squads.
One of the more memorable plays came when the Eagles were threatening to score on a third and five from the New Orleans eleven yard line, Kolb dropped back looking for the tight end Brent Celek and the score but was picked off by safety Darren Sharper who ran it back 97 yards for the pick six.
Damn! This is a very good Saints team on both sides of the ball and so far Gregg Williams has the defense humming, it looks like we are in for a good season folks.
Moving on, lets look at the offense and defense by the numbers.
Offense:
Passing:
Drew Brees – 25/34 311 yards with three touchdown and and interception
Rushing:
Mike Bell – 17 attempts for 86 yards and one touchdown
Reggie Bush – 10 attempts for 33 yards and one touchdown
Rober Meachem – 1 attempt for 15 yards
Receiving:
Marques Colston – eight receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns
Devery Henderson – three receptions for 71 yards
Jeremy Shockey – four receptions for 49 yards
Reggie Bush – three receptions for 42 yards
David Thomas – two receptions for 19 yards
Heath Evans – two receptions for 16 yards and one touchdown
Robert Meachem – one reception for 11 yards
Mike Bell – one reception for 9 yards
Kicking:
John Carney – 2/2 on FG 6/6 on XP
Punting:
Thomas Morstead – 3 punts for 50.3 yard average, long of 60
Kickoff Return:
Courtney Roby – 3 returns for 24 yard average with a long of 27
Punt Returns:
Reggie Bush – 2 for -1 yard average with a long of 3
OffensiveTotals:
Net yards 421, 3 passing touchdowns 2 rushing touchdowns
Defense:
Scott Shanle – 10 tackles 1 interception
Roman Harper – 7 tackles 1 sack
Jabari Greer – 6 tackles
Jonathan Vilma – 5 tackles
Sedrick Ellis – 4 tackles
Darren Sharper – 3 tackles 1 interception
Tony Hargrove – 2 tackles
Remi Ayodele – 1 tackle
Jeff Charleston – 1 tackle
Scott Fujita – 1 tackle
Randal Gay – 1 tackle
Charles Grant – 1 tackle
Bobby McCray – 1 tackle
Tracy Porter – 1 tackle 1 interception
Defensive Totals:
46 total tackles, 2 sacks, 3 interception. Surrendered 463 total yards (391 passing 85 rushing) and allowed only 2 total touchdowns.
If you would like to see the entire breakdown of the Saints/Eagles game follow this link to the game sheet for complete details. Also remember to check out Inside the Iggles breakdown of how the Saints whooped the Eagles at this link for “their” side of the story.
The Saints improve to 2-0 on the season, the first 2-0 start since the magical 2006 season when New Orleans advanced all the way to NFC Championship game. New Orleans will travel to Buffalo to take on the 1-1 Bills next Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
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