Saints win key road game

The New Orleans Saints got a big monkey off their backs over the weekend. 

With the team’s 26-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round of the playoffs at Lincoln Financial Field, the Saints were able to silence quite a few critics last Saturday night.

Coming into the game, the narrative all week – and really all season – in most media circles was that the Saints weren’t the same team on the road as they were at home. 

While that still may be true (the team was 8-0 at home this season and just 3-5 on the road), the Saints sure didn’t seem bothered by the elements on Saturday. 

Despite playing in temperatures in the upper teen’s by kickoff, New Orleans was able to establish the run (185 rushing yards on 36 carries total) while holding the Eagles and running back LeSean McCoy to under 100 yards rushing. 

The Saints controlled the time of possession by nearly 10 whole minutes, 34:53 to Philadelphia’s 25:07, and out-gained the Eagles in total yards, 434-256. 

New Orleans put together two key third-quarter touchdown drives and got four field goals on the night from recently acquired kicker Shayne Graham, including the game-winner from 32 yards out as time expired. 

The win was the Saints’ first playoff road victory in franchise history. 

And it was especially satisfying for Saints coach Sean Payton, who had grown tired of fielding questions about the team’s inability to win on the road this season. 

“I get it,” Payton said of the cold-weather narrative. “We understand the stereotype. Sometimes it comes with a team that plays inside and we can’t change that. But we kind of like the environment we play in and we traveled pretty well (Saturday).” 

The Saints started strong on defense, holding Philadelphia scoreless until after the 2:00 mark of the first half when quarterback Nick Foles found Riley Cooper for a 10-yard touchdown pass that put the Eagles ahead for the first time all night, 7-3. 

Saints quarterback Drew Brees (20-of-30, 250 yards) would bounce back from two interceptions earlier in the half to drive New Orleans into field goal range as Graham connected from 46 yards out to make the score 7-6 at halftime. 

In the third quarter, the Saints put together touchdown drives on back-to-back possessions. Brees capped the first with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore for a 13-7 lead, and then Mark Ingram finished off the second drive with a 4-yard touchdown run that put the Saints up 20-7. 

Philadelphia fought back, especially after the Saints lost defensive back Keenan Lewis to a concussion earlier in the half. The Eagles scored 10 unanswered points to get to within 20-17 by the early part of the fourth quarter and would eventually take the lead with 4:54 to play in the game on a 3-yard Foles touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz. 

Thanks to a healthy dose of the Saints’ running game, the Eagles never touched the ball again. Helped by a short field, the Saints proceeded to drive 34 yards in 10 plays to the Philadelphia 14-yard line to set Graham up with the winning kick as time expired. 

The Saints threw only one pass on a game-winning drive that was aided by a 39-yard Darren Sproles kick return and a subsequent horse-collar penalty that gave New Orleans starting field positin at the Eagles’ 48-yard line. 

Ingram finished the night with 99 rushing yards on 18 carries, and rookie Khiri Robinson added 45 yards on eight carries. Robinson had runs of 13, 5 and 4 yards respectively on the final drive to help New Orleans get into field goal range. 

“We knew after the Eagles scored that it was the offense that had to answer back and win the game,” said Ingram, who started in place of injured tailback Pierre Thomas. “All the credit goes to the offensive line. They opened up great holes for us to run on the final drive. They did a great job.” 

With the first round of the playoffs now complete, the Saints now head to Seattle for a rematch with the Seahawks, the NFC’s No. 1 seed which dominated New Orleans, 34-7, just over a month ago. 

In that game, the Seahawks held the Saints’ offense to less than 200 yards and Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson combined for over 350 all-purpose yards. 

Saints players said after that game that they wanted to get back to Seattle if the opportunity presented itself. Now, they have their wish. 

“It’s going to be a challenge,” said tight end Jimmy Graham. “They have a great offense and a great defense. They obviously gave it to us on the national stage about a month and a half ago so it’s going to be another one where they’ll be highly (favored), and it’s going to take every guy on this team giving a great effort for us to pull it off.” 

If anyone can do it, Brees says it’s the Saints. 

“They’re a great football team,” he said of the Seahawks. “We’re going to need our best effort to beat these guys, but if there’s a team that can do it, I believe that’s us.” 

The rematch is scheduled for 3:35 p.m. at CenturyLink Field and will be televised by FOX. Early forecasts for Saturday’s game are calling for a 100 percent chance of rain.