-Philadelphia
The stage was set, the lights were bright, the air was cold and the stands were quiet. The Saints had march down the field and kicked a gut wrenching last second field goal to win the Wildcard.Eagles fell to the New Orleans Saints by a final score of 24-22 thanks to the leg of Shayne Graham. One kicked put an end to one the most exciting season in recent memory for the Eagles.
The defense all week had one task and that was to stop New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham and they did a phenomenal job. In the first half the Eagles defense managed to make Brees throw two interceptions and it looked like it would be a long day for the Saints. Sadly, tonight was the night the Eagles offense decided to take a hiatus and not show up. They failed to move the ball efficiently and settled for a 48 yard field goal attempt by Alex Henery and he missed horribly.
The Saints offense did not fair much better through the air, but the ground game was a different story. The Saints rushing attack accumulated more than 100 yards before half time and that was with out starter Pierre Thomas. Drew Brees attempted and completed three quarterback sneak plays as it seemed like Brees was a human bulldozer , and not a quarterback. The last quarterback sneak is what eventually put them in prime field goal position.
The Eagles offense looked a cold as the winter air at times. They simply did not do a good enough job at executing the running game which in the end, effected the play action and screen plays. Desean Jackson was virtually invisible only having caught three balls for 53 yards. Lesean McCoy , the leagues rushing champion , finished with 21 carries for 77 yards and one touchdown. That is not much of anything special when he only averaged 3.2 yards a carry.
The Eagles now face a long off season and this game will take a long while to get over but you have to be optimistic comparing this season to last season.
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