An emotional victory for the Philadelphia Eagles over the New Orleans Saints Sunday didn't come without a price. The Eagles lost several players with injuries during the 15-12 win, the biggest being DeVonta Smith.
Smith was knocked out with a concussion and stayed on the ground for several minutes after officials were reluctant to blow the whistle at the end of a play. As several Saints defenders pulled Smith back, defensive tackle Khristian Boyd came at Smith's blindside and knocked him down.
While it appeared Boyd was going after Smith's shoulder pads in the collision, Philadelphia's starting safety, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, didn't see it that way.
"Man, that's the dirtiest s--- I ever saw in football, bro," Gardner-Johnson told reporters. "Y'all obviously saw that forward progression was stopped. And for them to take a cheap shot on one of our key guys, it shows what kind of team that is. They're front-runners."
The official not blowing the whistle when Smith was dragged back by several defenders instigated the Boyd hit, but that was one of several plays that put the Saints defense into question. Offensive tackle Trevor Penning received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after blocking Darius Slay past the sideline and into the bleachers where the players sit. Slay was injured on the play.
All the Eagles could discuss was Smith's injury and his well being. Boyd was not given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
"I'd seen him (knocked) out, and that's when I waved to the training staff, like he's out cold. It was scary," offensive tackle Fred Johnson, who filled in for Lane Johnson in the second half, said. "You never want to see (something) like that, especially on a play where he catches the ball, and he's running backwards for like five steps."
"It's on the refs to call that play dead, and take the necessary action when he's hit late," he said. "DeVonta's size, and so a lineman hitting him after five steps of him catching the ball, it's unprofessional. They're going to look at it and see that they need to take necessary actions."
The Eagles weren't happy about what happened, even though Boyd reached out on Instagram wishing Smith well. Boyd said he would never "deliberately try to give someone a serious injury."
"Either way it goes, man, that got no place (in) football," Gardner-Johnson said. "You always talk about CD this, CD this, but let's talk about playing dirty on their side. At the end of the day, the league will handle it."
The Aftermath
New Orleans Saints edge rusher Payton Turner denied spitting on Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith while the wideout was laying on the turf Sunday after sustaining a concussion on hit that forced his helmet off his head.
Turner responded Monday morning to a post on X showing video after the play saying, “Y’all reaching I wouldn’t ever do sum like that bless yall.”
The incident involving DeVonta Smith wasn't the only flashpoint in a contentious game. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter's behavior towards the Saints' sideline and fans after the game also drew attention. Carter, known for his intensity, engaged in some trash-talking with Saints players Tyrann Mathieu and Marshon Lattimore, giving them a double thumbs down, then mocked Saints fans while celebrating.
Saints Coach Denies 'Dirty' Play
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen pushed back against allegations from the Philadelphia Eagles that his team is dirty. Things grew contentious during the Eagles' 15-12 win in New Orleans on Sunday, particularly as Philadelphia lost several players due to injury.
"I'd say our guys play extremely hard and we're going to compete until the down is over," Allen said Monday, via ESPN. "I don't think we play dirty. I don't think we ever have played dirty. It's not the way we coach it, not the way we teach it, but we do play hard. Look, nobody wants to see anybody get hurt, nobody's trying to hurt anybody and unfortunately that's part of the business that we're in. No, we don't play dirty. We don't coach dirty, but we do play hard and we do play physical."
Specifically, the Eagles seemed to take the biggest issue with a hit that Saints defenders Payton Turner and Khristian Boyd laid on wide receiver DeVonta Smith. After making a reception in the second half, Smith was hit hard by the Saints duo so much that his helmet flew off. The pass catcher didn't return to the game and has since been placed in concussion protocol.
Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who played for the Saints from 2019-2021, called that play "the dirtiest shit I ever saw in football, bro."
On top of that incident, Saints right tackle Trevor Penning was flagged for unnecessary roughness on an excessive block of Eagles safety Darius Slay into the sideline benches.
"We can't have that," Allen said. "You've got to have some awareness of where you're at on the field. That could've been a really costly penalty. I love the aggressiveness, but at the same time, we can't hurt the team."
DeVonta Smith's Impact on the Eagles
During the fourth quarter, Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith caught a 5-yard pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts. After Smith’s forward progress was stopped and he was being moved backward, Saints defensive tackle Khristian Boyd hit Smith while he was in a defenseless position. Boyd’s hit left Smith on the field for several minutes, and he was later ruled out of the game with a concussion.
How big of a deal is the DeVonta Smith injury for the Eagles? Smith has been quarterback Jalen Hurts' most trusted target, sitting in a tie for fifth in the league with 9.3 targets per game and eighth in receiving yards per game with 79.7. He’s also the only player in the league with at least seven catches in each of the first three games.
Smith is tied for fourth in the NFL in burns (17) and 12th in catch rating (.977) entering Week 4. A burn is when a receiver “wins” his matchup on a play that he is targeted, regardless of the pass, while catch rating is on a 0-1 scale that indicates how well a WR successfully catches throws that are considered catchable.
So no matter how you look at it, Smith has been one of the bright spots on a banged-up offense that ranks 18th in the league in passing success rate (58.9%). But they’d still be 3-0 if not for a fourth-quarter hiccup against the Atlanta Falcons on ESPN’s Monday Night Football in Week 2.
If Brown and Smith can’t go against the Buccaneers, Philly may have to lean on Dallas Goedert even more in the passing game. After ranking below the league average (54.5%) among tight ends with at least six targets with a 44.4% burn rate after two games, Goedert stepped up with a career-high 10 catches for 170 yards against the Saints.
In Week 3, Goedert racked up seven burns, which was second only to Cole Kmet of the Chicago Bears, and a league-high 17.6 burn yards per target among tight ends with at least three targets heading into Monday Night Football.
It also means there might be even more pressure on Hurts, who ranks third in the league in well-thrown percentage (92.5) and seventh in scramble yards per carry (7.93). However, he’s also thrown the ball into dangerous situations too often with the ninth-worst pickable pass percentage (6.45) among those with at least 30 adjusted attempts.
Hurts has thrown an interception in seven consecutive games going back to last season, totaling nine over that stretch. That’s tied with Sam Howell for the longest active streak in the NFL.
The Saints' Offense Struggles
On the Saints’ side, fans were treated to a poor offensive performance after 40-plus point outbursts in the two weeks prior.
In those first two games, the Saints were successful running the ball with Alvin Kamara, who averaged 3.9 yards per carry before contact (ninth in the league among those with at least 10 carries) despite facing defensive boxes that outnumbered blockers on 50% of his snaps.
This would seem like a recipe for success against what was a bend-don’t-break Eagles defense that had especially struggled against the run, allowing a league worst 6.9 yards per run play through the first two games.
So what changed?
The offensive line’s success creating holes didn’t continue in Week 3. That’s partly because starting center Erik McCoy was injured on the third play of the game, forcing Lucas Patrick to shift to center and backup guard Oli Udoh into action.
The rest of the line didn’t create the same type of push, resulting in Kamara’s average yards per carry before contact decreasing to 2.1 – a full 1.8 yards lower than his average from the previous two weeks.
The Eagles didn’t attack the Saints with the same types of defensive boxes as the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers, instead opting to trust their front seven (and sometimes six) to stop the run, only showing defensive boxes outnumbering blockers on 27% of snaps. That allowed them to limit the Saints’ explosive plays in the passing game that have been vital to their success.
Expect other teams to follow the Eagles’ blueprint for slowing the Saints (2-1), starting with next week’s road date against the Falcons (1-2).
A Contentious End
While the Eagles emerged victorious, the game was marked by a series of controversial plays and heated exchanges that left both teams feeling frustrated. The DeVonta Smith injury is a significant blow for the Eagles and adds another layer to what was already a heated contest.
The question remains: will the league take action against the Saints for their aggressive defensive tactics, particularly the hit on Smith that left him with a concussion? The coming days will likely reveal the answers to this and other lingering questions about the game and its controversial ending.
