 |
| Darren Sproles gained 29 rushing yards on just 4 carries, but was more of a threat in the passing games, picking up 31 yards on a team-high 4 catches. |
Eric Meyer
The Saints finally got the road monkey off their back,
getting a 32-yard field goal from Shayne Graham as time expired to lift them
over the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-24. The win was a total team effort, as the
running game and defense did their part to take the pressure off of Drew Brees
and the passing game in the bitter cold on Saturday night.
I said Friday in my prediction for this game that Drew Brees
is the best postseason quarterback in the NFL right now. I stand by that
statement, but Brees didn’t put together his best performance. He had two
first-half interceptions and gave the Eagles a short field, which set up a
touchdown drive that gave Philadelphia a lead. However, the Saints defense
dominated otherwise and kept New Orleans in it. They only trailed 7-6 at
halftime.
In the second half, the Saints got the ball rolling. Drew
Brees seemed to find a comfort zone and led a balanced attack down the field
for two straight touchdown drives, one on a 24-yard pass to Lance Moore and
another on a carry from Mark Ingram, who carried the load quite impressively in
the stead of Pierre Thomas who sat out with a chest injury. Ingram finished
with 97 yards on 18 carries and looked like the feature back New Orleans hoped
he’d be when they traded up to draft him in the first round three seasons ago.
Finally, the Eagles offense came alive. Keenan Lewis, who
had shut down DeSean Jackson the entire game, left with a head injury in the
third quarter and the Eagles were able to find a rhythm by connecting on some
plays to Jackson and picking on backup corner Rod Sweeting. They put up 17
points on their next three drives to take a 24-23 lead with 4:54 left in
regulation.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Saints got a spark from Darren
Sproles, who returned the kick to around the 40-yard line in addition to 15
extra yards for a horse collar tackle on Cary Williams. The Saints were then
able to pick up a handful of first downs to move into chip-shot field goal
range and, more importantly, run the clock down to zero on the final snap.
Graham nailed the routine kick and the Saints got their first road playoff win
in franchise history. They’ll head to Seattle for the divisional round, where
they hope to avenge a Monday night beat down they received in Week 13 of the
regular season.
Note: The Saints’ win improved my mark to 2-0 this
postseason, but it should be noted that I, like Cory, have a history of going
2-0 on Wild Card Saturday only to follow it up with an 0-2 showing on Sunday.
So don’t expect wins from Cincinnati or San Francisco tomorrow.
Final Score:
New Orleans Saints – 26
Philadelphia Eagles – 24
No comments:
Post a Comment