Eagles-Saints: Five reasons the Eagles lost

Five reasons the Eagles lost to the Saints on Sunday in their divisional-round playoff game in New Orleans:

The Eagles’ impressive play on third down, both offensively and defensively, was a big reason they managed to resuscitate their season after that tough Week 14 overtime loss to the Cowboys.

They converted 27 of 56 third-down opportunities (48.2 percent) in their four straight wins over the Rams, Texans, Redskins and Bears. Nick Foles had a 110.8 third-down passer rating in those four games, including an 80.9 percent completion rate and a 9.2-yards-per-attempt average.

Those same four teams managed to convert just 12 of 47 third-down opportunities (25.5 percent) against Jim Schwartz’s defense. A week earlier in the Eagles’ wild-card win, the Bears were just 5-for-16 on third down.

But on Sunday, third down was the Eagles' Waterloo. Drew Brees and the Saints converted eight of 15 third-down situations, including six of eight in the second half. They converted a third-and-16 on that marathon 18-play, 11½-minute touchdown drive in the third quarter and a third-and-13 late in the game.

On offense, the Eagles converted third downs on both of their game-opening touchdown drives, then failed to convert another one the rest of the game. Foles was just 2-for-7 for 41 yards on third down.

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Nick Foles got off to a terrific start Sunday, completing eight of nine passes for 113 yards in the first quarter, including a beautiful 37-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews on the Eagles’ first possession.

He hit Alshon Jeffery for 30 yards on a third-and-7 on the Eagles’ second possession, then scored on a quarterback sneak to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead 11 minutes into the game, temporarily silencing the Superdome crowd.

But then the Foles magic that helped win a Super Bowl last year and rescued this season when it was near death after the Dallas loss and the loss of Carson Wentz, disappeared. Poof. The carriage turned back into a pumpkin.

Over the final three quarters Sunday, Foles completed just 10 of 22 passes for 88 yards. Passes he had been making for four-plus games suddenly missed the mark.

He hit tight end Zach Ertz for a 17-yard gain on the last play of the third quarter but severely underthrew an open Golden Tate, who had gotten behind Saints slot corner P.J. Williams on a third-and-8, on the possession right after the Saints’ long touchdown march.

Foles, who had been so good on third down in his previous four starts, completed just two of seven third-down passes against the Saints.

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There’s something about the Superdome that seems to be hazardous to the Eagles’ health. In their 41-point loss to the Saints two months ago, cornerbacks Avonte Maddox and Sidney Jones both got hurt, forcing Jim Schwartz to throw De’Vante Bausby (since released) and Chandon Sullivan (released and signed to the practice squad) out there against Drew Brees for 50 snaps.

On Sunday, their Pro Bowl right guard, Brandon Brooks, tore an Achilles late in the first quarter. The heart and soul of their defense, All-Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, injured a foot early in the second quarter and played just 55 percent of the snaps.

His linemate, Chris Long, injured his back and played less than half the snaps. The Eagles’ other two D-ends, Brandon Graham (hamstring) and Michael Bennett (foot), also missed some snaps. All of them played hurt.

The Eagles also lost cornerback Rasul Douglas for a significant stretch after he injured an ankle early in the second quarter. He was replaced by Josh Hawkins, who was added to the roster in late December.

It didn’t take Brees long to go after Hawkins. His 2-yard touchdown pass to Keith Kirkwood on the same drive Douglas got hurt was at Hawkins’ expense.

All the injuries to the defensive line clearly impacted the Eagles’ ability to get pressure on Brees at times. Schwartz, who blitzed Brees 11 times in that 41-point Week 11 loss and had almost every one of them blow up in his face, blitzed just once Sunday. As for Brooks, it’s no coincidence that the Eagles had just 108 total yards and seven first downs on their eight possessions after he went down.

You can link this one to the injury to Brooks, because after he got hurt, the run game took a powder.

The Eagles gained 36 yards on eight carries on their two touchdown drives. Wendell Smallwood had 21 yards on his five carries, Nelson Agholor picked up 12 on a nifty misdirection play, and Foles burrowed his way into the end zone on a quarterback sneak.

But on their next eight possessions without Brooks, the Eagles managed just 13 yards on eight carries.

It’s hard to pin it all on the loss of Brooks, however, since the Eagles’ ground game hasn’t been very good for a while. The Eagles finished 30th in the league in rush average (3.9 yards per carry). They averaged just 1.8 yards per carry in their wild-card win over the Bears and 3.0 in the five games leading up to Sunday. Agholor’s 12-yard run was just the Eagles’ 10th run of 10 or more yards in their last six games.

While Smallwood did a serviceable job, and rookie Josh Adams had his moments before Doug Pederson and Duce Staley put him in witness protection the last two weeks, and Corey Clement will be coming back from his ACL tear, it’s pretty clear the Eagles need to add a running back in the draft or free agency.

It is cruel irony that the guy who had pretty much been Nick Foles’ go-to guy during the Eagles’ fantastic run the last month-and-change would also end up being the goat Sunday.

Until Foles’ second-and-10 pass to the usually sure-handed Jeffery clanged off his hands and into the grasp of Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, Jeffery had been having a very good game. Targeted eight times, he had five catches for 63 yards, including three for first downs. He had a big 30-yard catch on a third-and-7 play on the Eagles’ second touchdown drive.

But the one he always will remember is the one he missed. He was coming across the middle when Foles put the ball right in his hands. With linebacker Alex Anzalone closing on him, Jeffery took his eye off the ball just long enough to lose his concentration, and the ball went off his hands.

Unless he was able to get away from Anzalone, he probably wouldn’t have gotten a first down on the play. But the Eagles would have had a third-and-short near the Saints' 20-yard line with a little less than two minutes left.