NEW ORLEANS _ Nick Foles took the field late in the fourth quarter with a chance to win the game for the Eagles, just as he did last week and last winter and so often during his Eagles career. But there will be no fairy tale finish to the season this year, even with Foles at quarterback.
With the Eagles at the New Orleans Saints' 27-yard line and the clock approaching the two-minute warning, Foles' pass went through the hands of Alshon Jeffery and was intercepted by Marshon Lattimore, sealing the Eagles' 20-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC divisional round.
Jeffery stayed on the ground in disbelief and disappointment. Foles rushed over to support Jeffery, but there was no overstating how much that play will haunt the Eagles this offseason.
The clock struck midnight on an Eagles season that lasted two weeks longer than it seemed it would when the Eagles last visited New Orleans, but that will end three weeks shy of their ambition to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
Despite a dream-like start to the game that included the Eagles taking a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, the Saints scored 20 consecutive points. The Eagles swung their best punches early, but it was not enough to knock out the top-seeded Saints. Although it wasn't the lopsided humiliation from November, the Saints proved to be the superior team and advance to play the Los Angeles Rams next week.
The Eagles return to Philadelphia for an uncertain offseason that could include an exodus of key players from last year's Super Bowl team _ including Foles.
Foles finished 18 of 31 for 201 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Jeffery was the leading receiver with five catches for 63 yards. Drew Brees went 28 of 38 for 301 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
The Eagles couldn't have started the game any better than they did. On the first play of the game, Brees tried testing the Eagles secondary deep. But this isn't the same secondary from Week 11. Cre'Von LeBlanc, who was only in his second week with the Eagles for the first game against the Saints, made a leaping interception to give the Eagles possession. It was only the second interception Brees has thrown at the Superdome this season, and it was an example of why defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said LeBlanc helped save the Eagles' season.
The Eagles knew they couldn't fall behind early like they did in November, so it was a good sign when the offense followed the interception with a seven-play, 76-yard touchdown drive. Foles found his rhythm, completing all four pass attempts on the drive, including a 37-yard strike to Jordan Matthews to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
And if that wasn't impressive enough, both the offense and defense had an encore on their next drives. The defense forced a three-and-out, and then Foles led the Eagles on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Foles continued his hot start, including a 30-yard pass to Jeffery to move the chains on a third-and-7. That set up Foles' one-yard touchdown run to take an early 14-0 lead.
However, Pro Bowl offensive lineman Brandon Brooks left the game during that drive with a leg injury. He did not return, and it was the start of a series of injuries in the first half.
Foles' first blemish came when he threw an interception early in the second quarter around midfield, although he Saints were backed up to their own 21-yard line. They went nine yards before the punting team came onto the field. The Saints called a fake, a Taysom Hill rushed for four yards to keep the Saints drive alive. Had the Eagles stopped the Saints there, they would have had the ball in scoring range. To make it worse, Fletcher Cox came off the field with a foot injury and missed most of the second quarter.
The Saints turned their renewed life into points. The Eagles stopped the Saints twice on third downs on the drive, but the Saints converted both fourth downs. The first one was the fake punt and the second one was a two-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to cut the Eagles' lead in half.
The Eagles offense was nowhere to be found for the rest of the half, failing to enter New Orleans' side of the field. The Saints managed to add a field goal before halftime to make it a 14-10 game. At different points in the half, the Eagles' medical and training staffs needed to evaluate Brooks, Cox, Brandon Graham, Chris Long, Rasul Douglas, and Jeffery. Everyone except Brooks returned to the game. Cox returned to the locker room in the fourth quarter.
The Saints had the ball for most of the third quarter. After a three-and-out by the Eagles, the Saints went on an 18-play, 92-yard drive that bled more than 11 minutes from the clock and gave them a lead they never relinquished. Even when a 46-yard touchdown catch was nullified because of a holding penalty, the Saints kept putting the pressure on the Eagles. When they were backed up to a third-and-16 at the Eagles' 36-yard line, they didn't settle for a field goal. Instead, Brees found Thomas for a 20-yard completion down the middle of the Eagles defense, a crushing conversion against Jim Schwartz's defense. It didn't take long for Brees and Thomas to connect again for a two-yard touchdown.
The Eagles offense had no answers in the fourth quarter. The Saints missed a 52-yard field goal that would have given them a two-possession lead, allowing the Eagles to take the field with a chance at the lead.
There was reason for the Eagles to be confident; Foles had done it before. The drive started at the Eagles' 42-yard line and the Eagles brought it 31 yards before the interception. That ended a season that started with such promise and finished with the agony that was all-too-familiar in Philadelphia before last season.
