Derek Carr captures some amazing locker room footage of former Saints star

The Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints entered their Week 3 matchup with completely different situations.

The Eagles were considered Super Bowl contenders, but they underachieved due to two sloppy games early in the season. After losing to the Atlanta Falcons in heartbreaking fashion, the Eagles were scrutinized for poor execution, turnovers, questionable playmaking, and an inability to close out games.

The Saints entered the season with few expectations. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have produced consistent playoff teams since Tom Brady transformed the team’s culture, and the Atlanta Falcons generated buzz after signing quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​in free agency. That left the Saints and Carolina Panthers as the forgotten teams of the NFC South.

Still, the Saints looked like the best team in the league through the first two weeks of the season. New Orleans dismantled the Panthers in Week 1, then dominated the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2.

In Week 3, the hype around New Orleans came to an abrupt end. The Eagles held the Saints to just one offensive touchdown in a 15-12 victory at Caesars Superdome.

After the game, defensive end CJ Gardner-Johnson celebrated the demise of his former team in the Eagles locker room by insulting Saints quarterback Derek Carr.

“They’re not pretenders, they’re imposters,” Gardner-Johnson yelled in the locker room, according to NFL Network’s Bridget Condon. “They’ve got Derek Carr, remember that.”

The win wasn’t easy for Philadelphia. The Saints led 3-0 early in the fourth quarter. The chances of victory seemed slim when DeVonta Smith took a hard blow to the head and was ruled out with a concussion. With AJ Brown already sidelined, the Eagles were held scoreless and two of their top receiving threats were unavailable.

Then, at the next goal line, running back Saquon Barkley broke through the defense for a 65-yard touchdown run. That opened the scoring for the Eagles. Barkley, who was responsible for all 15 Eagles points, scored another touchdown and a two-point conversion to give Philadelphia a three-point lead. Eagles safety Reed Blankenship intercepted Carr to seal the game.

While the Eagles have plenty of reasons to celebrate the hard-fought victory, they also have reasons to worry. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts continued to struggle with ball security, and injuries piled up. In addition to Smith, Darius Slay, Lane Johnson, Mekhi Becton and Britain Covey all left the game with injuries.

Moving forward, the Eagles will need to get back into shape and correct their mistakes to operate at an efficient and consistent pace.