Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Saints game

On a day in which the offense failed over and over to put the ball in the end zone, the defense kept the game well within reach.

And Reed Blankenship ended it.

"The defense was the reason we won this game," Cam Jurgens (rightfully) said.

2) The 'Redemption' Award 🙌: Saquon Barkley

In Week 2, if Saquon Barkley had caught as easy a pass as you'll see in the NFL, the Eagles would have beaten the Atlanta Falcons. Instead, his drop opened the door a little for the Falcons to mount a comeback, and yada yada yada, a win turned into a loss.

In Week 3 against the Saints, the Eagles had several drives in which they were able to move the football, but they kept resulting in zero points. Until Saquon happened...

There's no question about Barkley's burst. He turned on the afterburners and ran away from the Saints secondary once he got into the open field. 

On the day, Barkley rushed 17 times for 147 yards (8.6 YPC) and 2 TDs. On the season, he has 63 carries for 351 yards (5.6 YPC) and 4 TDs. Though three games, he's on pace for 1,989 rushing yards.

3) The 'Better Late than Early' Award 🔁: Jalen Hurts

A week ago, Hurts was having a good game against the Falcons until his final throw of the night, which of course was a game-ending INT.

On Sunday, he had a bad INT early, when he threw to a covered DeVonta Smith in the end zone, and then later had a Carson Wentz-esque fumble when he held the ball carelessly by his side while trying to escape the pocket.

But with 1:57 left in the game, down five, and without four starters — A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Lane Johnson, and Mekhi Becton — Hurts got the job done. It was a clutch performance with a lot of new faces in the huddle.

4) The 'Oh There He Is!' Award 🫣: Dallas Goedert

Through the first two games, Goedert only had nine targets, a rather low number for the No. 3 option in the offense. 

With Brown out and Smith injured, Goedert became Hurts' No. 1 target, and he finished with 10 catches on 11 targets for 170 yards, and the play of the game. 

Goedert was going to be open anyway, but give Jahan Dotson an assist on a rub concept to legally slow up Willie Gay (6) by running right at him and jumping out of the way at the last moment.

5) The 'Carnage' Award: The fallen Eagles

We alluded to several of the Eagles' injuries above, but just to take stock postgame:

• WR A.J. Brown: Missed the game with a hamstring injury.

• WR DeVonta Smith: Took a scary hit, looked like he might've been knocked out momentarily, left with a concussion.

For all of the flags that officials throw these days for vicious hit, I don't know how that one didn't get called. Certainly, the officials were way too late to blow the whistle on the play.

• RT Lane Johnson: Left with a concussion. FOX Sports reported that he was vomiting on the sidelines, before he was taken off the field with the assistance of Big Dom.

• CB Darius Slay: Slay was driven to the ground way out of bounds by the notoriously dirty Trevor Penning. This was the only video I could find of it, so please excuse the commentary, lol:

In the locker room after the game, Eagles players were torn whether the DeVonta Smith hit was dirty or not. Some more felt the play should’ve been blown dead before he got hit. They unanimously expressed (at least among the players I talked to) that the Penning block out of bounds on Slay was dirty.

• RG Mekhi Becton: Injured finger, did not return.

• WR/PR Britain Covey: Injured shoulder, left arm in a sling postgame.

6) The 'Next Man Up' Award ⏭️: The guys who filled in.

Goedert had a huge day. Johnny Wilson converted a first down after he broke a tackle and got some yards after the catch. Covey made a guy miss on a short throw for a key first down. Kelee Ringo filled in for Slay and held his own.

And last but not least, Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen seemed to play well in relief of Lane Johnson and Becton at RT and RG. We'll have more on them later in the week.

7) The 'Indefensible' Award: Nick Sirianni

Sirianni took a lot of heat after the Eagles' loss to the Falcons Week 2, when he decided to pass on third down to end the game right then and there instead of running the ball and running clock. That was the right decision, in my opinion. (Yes, I know many of you disagree.)

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He was also criticized for subsequently kicking a field goal on the next play, when going for it was probably the better choice. Whatever your thoughts were on his decisions a week ago, they were at least defensible.

What was entirely indefensible was going for it on 4th and 1 from the New Orleans 15 with one timeout and just 14 seconds left on the clock.

If the Eagles had converted, what was the plan at that point? Certainly they would have called timeout, and then what? Take one shot into the endzone, and if you don't get, then kick the field goal? The reward simply wasn't worth the risk.

If the Eagles had lost this game, Sirianni would have been raked over the coals once again, and rightfully so. He might be anyway, but the backlash won't be quite as bad after a win.

8) The 'Domination' Award 💪: The Eagles, in the stat sheet, anyway

If you looked at the game stats, you'd think the Eagles had won by a couple touchdowns:

It's not often you see a team gain 460 yards and score just 15 points.

9) The 'Catbird Seat' Award 🐈‍⬛🐦: The Eagles, in the NFC East

As of this writing, the Cowboys are down 28-6 in the fourth quarter at home against the Ravens. Assuming they lose, they will be 1-2. The NFC East standings would look like so:

This could be Dallas' second straight blowout loss.

Update: It wasn't a blowout loss. The Cowboys came back and made it interesting. It was just a regular old loss.

Update 2: Oh hey, the Niners blew a game against the Rams.

10) The 'Revenge Game' Award 🏴‍☠️: The Buccaneers, next week

In Week 4, the Eagles will return to the scene of their embarrassing playoff loss in Tampa when they face the 2-1 Buccaneers, who were on the wrong side of a surprising 26-7 home loss to the woeful Broncos on Sunday.

That will be an opportunity for some Eagles players to exorcized some 2023 demons.

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