The Philadelphia Eagles and Nick Foles looked like they were about to do it again.
After running out to a 14-0 lead in New Orleans, the Eagles watched as the Saints put up 20 unanswered points to take a six point lead in the fourth quarter. The Saints had a chance to put the game on ice late, but a run for negative yardage on third down led to a 53-yard field goal attempt from Will Lutz. Like a week ago in Chicago, the home team’s kicker waved his attempt wide, setting up a chance for more Nick Foles magic.
Foles drove the Eagles deep into Saints territory and the script seemed to write itself. However, a second down slant to Alshon Jeffery went straight through the big receiver’s hands and fell into Marshon Lattimore’s lap for the interception to effectively seal the game.
MARSHON LATTIMORE.
His second INT of the game is CLUTCH. #HomeInTheDome #NFLPlayoffs
📺: #PHIvsNO on FOX pic.twitter.com/PLep2Wntts
— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2019
A third-and-10 with a minute to play meant the Eagles had a chance to get the ball back, but Alvin Kamara ripped off a 12-yard run up the middle to get the first down and allow for knees to get out with the 20-14 win.
It’s a gutting loss for the Eagles and Jeffery in particular. Philadelphia looked in total control in the first 20 plus minutes of action, but slowly but surely the Saints defense seemed to figure out what the Eagles were trying to do offensively. After a 9-of-10 start, Foles finished the game 9 for his last 21 passes, including the interception that was far from his fault, and as a team the Eagles rushed for just 49 yards on 16 carries.
As for the Saints, they proved they could hang around in a slugfest and the defense stood up big time after a pitiful start. Drew Brees was off on a number of deep pass attempts, including the interception on the first play of the game, but he eventually settled in and threw for over 300 yards and delivered some great intermediate balls. Michael Thomas looked the part of a No. 1 option with 171 yards and a touchdown on 12 receptions, while Kamara grinded out 71 yards, none bigger than those last 12.
The Saints now set up the highly awaited rematch between them and the Rams next week in the NFC Championship game, as the top two seeds advance to both conference title games.
