Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles' defense dominate in Week 3 win over red-hot New Orleans Saints
After allowing a game-winning drive in a Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Philadelphia Eagles' defense put together a dominant performance against a red-hot New Orleans Saints team in a 15-12 win Sunday.
The Eagles' defense contained a New Orleans offense that entered the game ranked third in the league in total offense and first in points per game.
Philadelphia's defense line, specifically defensive tackle Jalen Carter, was key to the team's success in the win. The second-year University of Georgia product had four tackles, including two for loss, two pass deflections and one quarterback hit.
Jordan Davis, another Georgia product, recorded his first sack of the season. It was his first sack since Week 7 of the 2023 season when he had a half sack against the Miami Dolphins. Davis had four total tackles and a quarterback hit along with the sack.
"The defense played unbelievable," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. "That's a good offense line. We played on their side of the line of scrimmage an awful lot. Jalen Carter played his butt off. Jordan Davis played his butt off when everybody had been doubting them all week. What are we doing? Why are we drafting these guys? I've heard it all. I've heard everything. I try not to listen, but I got to talk to the media five times a week so you hear it all. And they responded because they didn't care what anybody thought of them."
Fellow defensive linemen Milton Williams and Brandon Graham each had solid afternoons. Williams had two tackles for a loss, and Graham had two tackles and a quarterback hit.
The Eagles' defense did benefit from the Saints losing starting center Erik McCoy to a groin injury, but regardless, they still showed up in a big way after last week's brutal collapse at the end of the game.
In the season's first two weeks, the Saints gashed opposing defenses and moved the ball efficiently. They posted more than 40 points in wins over the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys and had more than 375 yards of total offense in each game.
But Sunday, the Eagles limited New Orleans to just 219 total yards of offense, including 89 rushing yards.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara averaged more than 5-yards per carry in wins over Dallas and Carolina, but the Eagles were able to bottle-up the running game for the first time all season. Entering Week 3, the Eagles were allowing 6.4-yards per carry, which ranked first in the league, as one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL.
But Kamara only averaged 3.3 yards per carry vs. the Eagles and rushed for 87 yards on 26 carries.
It wasn't only the defensive line, either. The Eagles got solid contributions from several players on the defense.
Linebacker Zack Baun led the team in tackles with 13, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson had eight tackles and a pass deflection and linebacker Nakobe Dean recorded eight tackles, including one for a loss.
Reed Blankenship sealed the win with an interception, had two tackles and a pass deflection. Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell had four tackles and two pass deflections and Darius Slay added two tackles and one pass deflection.
"To come in here and get a win like that is special and we'll remember this," Sirianni said. "That brings a team closer together."
