News / Sports
NFC Playoffs from Saturday: New Orleans Saints Miracle March Continues with 27-24 Win Over the Philadelphia Eagles
The crew who worked round-the-clock to repair and rebuild the New Orleans Superdome following Hurricane Katrina must have used some magic. The beloved Saints of New Orleans are off to the NFC title game after scrapping and clawing their way to a 27-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Drew Brees threw for 243 yards and a touchdown while Deuce McAllister ran for 143 yards and scored a pair of third quarter touchdowns for the Saints. McAllister’s 5-yard touchdown run in the third brought the Saints to within one, 21-20. Eight minutes later he scored again on an 11 yard touchdown pass from Brees and the Saints never trailed again. McAllister finished with 20 yards receiving in one of the best all-around performances in NFC playoff history.
The Saints used a balanced attack to churn up 435 total yards of offense in a game that wasn’t decided until the last moments of the contest.
It was veteran John Carney that gave the Saints a 3-0 lead five-minutes into the first quarter with a 33 yard field goal. Carney pushed the lead to 6-0 in the opening seconds of the second quarter and the Saints appeared ready to turn the game over to their defense.
The Eagles had a different plan. Philadelphia grabbed the lead 7-6 after answering Carney’s second field goal with a 76 yard touchdown pass from Jeff Garcia to Donte’ Stallworth.
Driving 78 yards on 14 plays the Saints regained the lead when Reggie Bush pounded in a 4 yard touchdown to cap a drive that consumed over eight minutes of the clock.
Philadelphia didn’t seem worried as they used the remaining five minutes of the second quarter to compile an 80 yard drive of their own and recaptured the lead 14-13 on a one yard run from Brian Westbrook with under a minute remaining in the half.
With the third quarter just under way Westbrook seemed ready to guide the Eagles to the NFC Championship game. He busted loose for a 62 yard touchdown run and Philly was up 21-13.
That’s when McAllister took matters into his own hands and feet. On the Saints next two possessions he became the go-to guy for Brees and New Orleans, scoring twice and lifting the Saints to a 27-21 advantage.
From that point on it was a battle of Saints will verse Eagles determination and New Orleans won out. Even when Drew Brees fumbled with just over three-minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, giving the Eagles one more chance, New Orleans will survived.
After the Saints forced a punt and took possession with 1:48 left in the game it was McAllister who found five yards on a third-and-one to seal the victory.
The loss snapped a five game winning streak for the Eagles who managed to win the NFC East after beating the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Washington Redskins, all on the road.
Quarterback Jeff Garcia finished the game with 240 yards passing and a touchdown while Brian Westbrook ran for 116 yards and a touchdown.
The Saints could be hosting the NFC Championship game next week if the Seattle Seahawks can manage to knock off the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
