Foles' TD pass has Eagles up 7-6 over Saints
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Foles threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper and the Philadelphia Eagles had a 7-6 lead over the New Orleans Saints at halftime in an NFC wild-card playoff game Saturday night.
Two of the NFL's most prolific offenses struggled to get things going. Brees threw a pair of interceptions, the second leading to Philadelphia's score.
Shayne Graham kicked pair of field goals for the Saints. Alex Henery missed from 48 yards for Philadelphia.
The Saints (11-5) are seeking the franchise's first playoff win in six tries on the road. The Eagles (10-6) went worst-to-first in the NFC East under rookie coach Chip Kelly.
The teams combined for an average of 816.7 yards and 53.5 points per game during the regular season. But it was all defense in the first half.
Bradley Fletcher intercepted Brees on a deep pass that intended receiver Kenny Stills misread. Fletcher returned it 24 yards to the Eagles 27, and Foles took over with short passes that moved it to the Saints 23.
The Eagles were at the Saints 15 after NFL rushing champion LeSean McCoy ran 8 yards on fourth-and-1. But a pass to Brent Celek lost 8 yards and Foles took a sack for an 11-yard loss. Henery then missed wide left.
The Saints then drove to the Eagles 13 before nearly losing the ball again. Jimmy Graham fumbled, but the call was reversed after a video review showed he was down before the ball came out. Graham then made a 36-yarder for a 3-0 lead.
Brees, who led the Saints to a Super Bowl title in 2009, had thrown just four interceptions in his first nine playoff games before tossing two picks in the first half. The Saints were at the Eagles 41 before Brees threw one right to linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who returned it 23 yards to the New Orleans 44.
Foles connected with Riley Cooper for 22 yards on first down. On third down, he found Cooper running across the back of the end zone for a TD.
Graham kicked a 47-yarder at the end of the second quarter to cut it to 7-6.
Brees and Foles became just the second pair of quarterbacks from the same high school to play each other in a playoff game. Brees led Westlake High School to the Texas state championship in 1996. Foles broke several of Brees' passing records and guided the Austin-based school to the title game in 2006, but lost.
A day after a storm dumped 8 inches of snow on Philadelphia, there was hardly any trace of it at Lincoln Financial Field. Team officials estimated workers removed between two and three million pounds of snow from the stadium and surrounding parking lots. Temperature at kickoff was 25 degrees, but the cold weather didn't prevent Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis from coming out shirtless for pregame warm-ups.
New Orleans played without Pierre Thomas, the team's leading rusher and second-leading receiver. Thomas injured his chest last week.
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