Swoop
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Eagles ran for 246 yards in Sunday’s 24-21 win over the Saints, but Saints head coach Sean Payton was in the mood to round up when he spoke to the media after the game.
Payton said his team came out “flat” in a first half that ended with the Saints down 17-0. They rallied in the second half, but gave up a touchdown in the fourth quarter that took the win out of their sails and generally struggled to keep running back Miles Sanders and quarterback Jalen Hurts from making plays on the ground.
Hurts’ play earned praise from Payton while the Saints’ defensive performance came in for criticism.
“I felt like [Hurts] played well. He played exceptionally well,” Payton said. “He hurt us. We’ll take a look at the tape. Obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job of slowing [Hurts] down. When a team rushes for 250 yards, not a lot of good can happen. I’ll say this — he was impressive just watching him. I thought he played with poise, made some throws, and was smart. He did a good job.”
The Saints’ stumble knocked them out of the top seed in the NFC playoff picture. Something similar happened late last season and they wound up losing their first postseason game, so shoring up weaknesses now would be a good step for Payton’s club.