Eagles-Saints takeaways: Bring on the Saquon Barkley-centric offense; Vic Fangio acts fast

NEW ORLEANS — The Eagles got a gutsy win against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, handling an early spell of adversity in the season for their second win in three weeks.

Here’s what we learned from the 15-12 victory at the Caesars Superdome:

Both when watching the Eagles offense so far this season and projecting how things might look moving forward, the investment the team made in running back Saquon Barkley makes all the more sense.

The 27-year-old’s value to the Eagles in his first three games has been indisputable, especially in light of the volatile production coming in the passing game for the offense. Barkley has been the steadying force for stagnant spells and, on Sunday, was the fulcrum of a group that was besieged by injuries and untimely mistakes from quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Three of Hurts’ four interceptions thrown this season — including the one against New Orleans — have come on third-and-long situations. Two of them have come in the red zone as well, illustrative of Hurts’ tendency to inadvisably force things in high-leverage situations.

Enter Barkley, who finished Sunday’s game with 147 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 17 carries. His most important came on a 65-yard touchdown run to break a scoreless streak that stretched into the fourth quarter. According to Next Gen Stats, Barkley’s expected rushing yards on the play were just 3 yards, but he reached a top speed of 21.66 miles per hour. He was sprung by the left side of the Eagles’ offensive line sorting out a run blitz from the Saints effectively, but his breakaway speed created something more for the Eagles when they desperately needed it.

It’s the type of difference-making performance that helps justify the $12 million average annual value the Eagles paid Barkley in free agency last offseason. A similarly priced receiver may have brought another layer to the Eagles’ top-heavy passing game, but the Gabe Davises and Darnell Mooneys of the world don’t turn a game on its head the way a running back like Barkley can.

With Lane Johnson and DeVonta Smith both suffering concussions against the Saints, Mekhi Becton leaving with a finger injury, and A.J. Brown still recovering from a hamstring injury, Barkley’s impact next week and possibly beyond will be even more important. Hurts has shown flashes of high-level play, but the smart move may be to roll with Barkley until defenses are forced to adjust.

One week after watching his group struggle mightily against the run, Vic Fangio came up with the type of answers that explain why he has been a successful coach in the NFL for so long.

The Eagles held Alvin Kamara to 87 yards on 26 attempts (3.3 yards per carry) using a noticeably increased amount of five-man fronts and fixing several of the mistakes that plagued them against Atlanta last week. Fangio even employed six-man fronts at times, walking linebacker Zack Baun down to the line of scrimmage just before the snap on occasion to help set the edge.

Baun was one of the weak points against the Falcons’ outside zone plays, struggling to stay on his feet against cut blocks at the second level, but finished Sunday’s win with a team-high 13 total tackles. The Eagles notably went away from edge rusher Bryce Huff, who played sparingly on early downs, and used defensive tackle Milton Williams out on the edge at times.

The Saints’ frequent usage of heavy personnel sets made it easier for Fangio to make the change toward five-man fronts. There will still be games against teams like the Packers and Falcons who are set up to run out of 11 personnel, which may force the Eagles back into the nickel packages with light boxes and four down linemen, but Sunday was an encouraging step for the defense to find its identity nonetheless.

While we’re discussing the defense, what might that identity be?

Jalen Carter’s game-wrecking performance against the Saints provided a potential answer. I’ve written before that Fangio’s acumen should raise the floor for the Eagles defense, but the players — particularly the group of first-round picks in recent years — would determine the defense’s ceiling.

Carter’s performance suggested as much on Sunday. The second-year defensive tackle had four tackles, including two for losses, to go along with two pass deflections and several more pressures in crucial moments. For the first time this season, Carter showed the type of game-ruining ability that he flashed both during training camp and in his rookie season. If he can maintain that level of play for stretches, the defense has its star to build around.

» READ MORE: Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis play like first-rounders as the Eagles defense pounds the Saints

Credit where it’s due: After spending the week leading into Sunday harping on how they’d “respond,” the Eagles did just that against the Saints.

“We were a resilient team,” Eagles coach Sirianni said postgame. “There are resilient men on this team. Last week was rough. Last week was something that our guys had to pick themselves up off the mat. Every one of them did.”

The Eagles flew to New Orleans slated for an early-season test on how they’d handle adversity compared to last year. The stunning loss to the Falcons set up a short week against a Saints team that was dominant in each of its first two games, and the Eagles did, in fact, respond.

From Hurts’ early turnovers to Sirianni’s fourth-down decision making, there will be plenty to address coming off the win, but righting the ship after last Monday was an important step for this year’s Eagles team.

Reed Blankenship, up: Blankenship got his second interception of the season, this time sealing the game by picking off Derek Carr after the Saints quarterback floated a pass in the middle of the field. Pressure from Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat contributed to the poorly thrown pass, but Blankenship made a diving catch to come up with the pass and ice the Eagles’ win.

Sirianni’s fourth-down chart, down: The Eagles gained 460 total yards but managed just 15 points in part because of several of Sirianni’s fourth-down decisions backfiring. The most glaring mistake came at the end of the first half with the Eagles facing fourth-and-inches. Sirianni called a fake quarterback sneak that ended with Barkley breaking outside and getting tackled short of the sticks with 10 seconds left in the half. It was a dubious decision given the lack of time remaining with the Eagles standing to gain one, maybe two, shots toward the end zone with no timeouts left. While it didn’t result in a loss like last week, Sirianni has now gone consecutive weeks with costly fourth-down decisions following his gut rather than the analytics.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Saints stock watch: Saquon Barkley up, Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts down

Milton Williams, up: WIlliams’ versatility came in handy for the Eagles’ defensive front. Playing out of a five-technique head up on the opposing tackle at times with Baun lined up outside of him, Williams tied Carter for a team-high two tackles for loss against New Orleans.

Huff’s playing time, down: Huff’s unproductive start to the season reached a breaking point against the Falcons last week and resulted in a role reduction against New Orleans. According to ESPN, the edge rusher played just 33% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps and finished without any counting stats for a second time in three games. For now, the three-year, $51 million man appears to be on ice.

Bye week timing, up: Considering the injuries to several key contributors on Sunday, the Week 5 bye may be coming at a good time for the Eagles. Depending on the timeline to return for Johnson, Smith, Britain Covey, and Brown, a week off after next Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could help mask some potential absences from major figures.