Saints clip Eagles in Playoffs

Shayne Graham booted a 32 yard field goal on the last play of the game to lift the New Orleans Saints to their first ever road playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles 26-24 in Philadelphia.
The field goal was the fourth of the game for Graham and finished a drive that started after the Eagles had taken the lead on a Nick Foles to Zach Ertz scoring pass with 4:54 to go.
The Eagles would never touch the ball again.
The Saints advance to the next round,but face a daunting task in the Seattle Seahawks,who pounded the Saints 34-7 earlier this season in Seattle and Seattle once again will be the site of the game....

Saintly Thoughts (Hey,I don't usually do this)

1) Key to the win? Shutting down LeShaun McCoy.
The Eagle back led the league in rushing,but was held to 77 yards on 21 carries.
Without McCoy,the Eagles were forced to rely more on the pass than usual,which....

2) Allowed to Saints to drop men in coverage and not let Nick Foles to throw the ball downfield.
Other than a long pass interference call and one 40 yard gain to DeSean Jackson,Foles was forced to keep the ball underneath and finished with under 200 yards passing.

3) Drew Brees struggled in the first half a bit with two picks and a underthrown ball that would scored a touchdown early,but rebounded in the second half with a score and leading the game winning drive.
Was it vintage Brees? No,the evening cold was not a friend,but it was good enough to quiet thoughts that the Saints couldn't on the road or in bad weather.

4) The Saints use a balanced group of running backs,but with Pierre Thomas out for the game,Mark Ingram had to carry the load and the former Heisman winner did just that in finishing with 97 yards and averaging over five yards a carry.
Ingram has been somewhat disappointing as a pro,but he shows signs of coming around when he drops his habit of tipping toeing behind the line.

5) Drew Brees did not have a reciever with more than 44 yards (Jimmy Graham) and just one with four catches (Darren Sproles),but 11 different Saints caught passes.

6) Cameron Jordan finished with two sacks and was in the face of Nick Foles all day.
Jordan improves every season as a pass rusher and will be a main factor if the Saints are to win in Seattle.

7) Corner Keenan Lewis left the game early in the second half with a head injury and that is when DeSean Jackson suddenly became a force in the game.
Corey Allen struggled against Jackson and Lewis managed to keep Jackson under wraps-as in zero catches against Lewis.
Lewis will be needed against the Seahawks..

8) Jimmy Graham held to just three catches in the game,but Graham did catch a touchdown with one of those.
Graham is the receiver that most teams gameplan to stop against the Saints and the Eagles often were doubling Graham with a linebacker and a safety.

9) Much was made about rookie Terron Armstead starting at left tackle against Trent Cole.
Cole did finish with one sack,but I would not say that he was a force rushing against Brees and the rookie did account himself well.Armstead shows the skills of an elite left tackle,although he has a long way to go.

10) Finally,with the road playoff losing streak,the question is this-can the Saints win in intimidating Seattle,where the Saints lost in the playoffs to a bad Seahawks team before and was smashed this season.
Maybe. The Saints will have some confidence off this win,the Cardinals just won in Seattle handing the Hawks their first home loss of the season and Russell Wilson is not exactly playoff tested yet.
At the same time,home field in Seattle means so much and the Seahawks will be rested.
Wait until the next PPM