The Saints played as bad a half as they have in the Sean Payton era and fell behind 17-0 at the half and this time that proved too much to recover from as the Eagles broke a nine-game win streak Sunday with a 24-21 win.
The game got a little tight at the end as a Hurts fumble led to a Taysom Hill to Jared Cooks touchdown to cut the margin to three, but an onsides kick failed and the Eagles killed the clock.
The offense didn’t score a point in the first half and rarely threatened the injury-depleted Eagles team. Meanwhile the Eagles with Jalen Hurts posing a running threat, ran wild.
"This league is too good regardless of who you’re playing," said head coach Sean Payton. "We’ve got to be better. That starts with me. I felt we were flat. In the end, we rushed for about 70 yards. We got sacked five times. They rushed for 250 yards. We missed a field goal. They make a field goal. They deserved to win today."
Both Hurts and running back Miles Sanders went over 100 yards, the first time a rusher has gone over the century mark against the Saints in 55 games. Both had nearly hit the 100-yard mark by halftime.
"Not playing down to anyone’s level, we just didn’t play our standard of football and that’s something I take very seriously," said defensive end Cam Jordan.
The Eagles finished with 36 carries for 246 yards. Sanders had 14 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Hurts had 18 carries for 106 yards and he completed 17 of 30 for 167 yards and a touchdown. He wasn't sacked.
The loss dropped the Saints from the top seed in the NFC as Green Bay defeated Detroit.
Taysom Hill did not look good in the first half as he missed a wide open Jared Cook for a certain first down in a big series and later he blitzed a short dump pass to Alvin Kamara that resulted in an interception.
In the second half though, Hill came out strong, leading two straight scoring drives but he was sacked on a critical fourth down and 2 play near midfield that ended another potential drive and helped the Eagles get a touchdown that provided the margin of victory.
Hill finished 28 of 38 for 291 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once and sacked five times.
