Derek Carr catches some amazing locker room strays from former Saints star

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

The Eagles were perceived as Super Bowl contenders, but underperformed through two sloppy games to begin the season. After losing to the Atlanta Falcons in heartbreaking fashion, the Eagles were heavily scrutinized for their poor execution, turnovers, questionable play calling and inability to close out games.

The Saints entered the season with few expectations. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have produced consistent postseason 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 in the NFC South.

Yet, the Saints appeared to be 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.

Former Saint insults Derek Carr while celebrating Eagles win

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

After the game, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson celebrated the demise of his former team in the Eagles’ locker room by slighting Saints quarterback Derek Carr.

“They ain’t no contenders, they’re pretenders,” Gardner-Johnson screamed in the locker room, according to Bridget Condon of NFL Network. “They have Derek Carr, remember that.”

The victory didn’t come easily for Philadelphia. The Saints held a 3-0 lead entering the fourth quarter. The chances of winning looked grim when DeVonta Smith took a brutal hit to the head and was ruled out with a concussion. With A.J. Brown already sidelined, the Eagles were scoreless with two of their best receiving threats unavailable. 

Then, on the very next place, running back Saquon Barkley bursted through the defense for a 65-yard rushing touchdown. That opened up the scoring for the Eagles. Barkley, who was responsible for all 15 of the 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 reason to celebrate the chippy, hard-fought victory, there were reasons for concern as well. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts continued to struggle with ball security, and injuries have piled up. Along with Smith, Darius Slay, Lane Johnson, Mekhi Becton and Britain Covey all left the game after sustaining injuries.

Moving forward, the Eagles will have to get healthy and clean up their mistakes to operate at an efficient and consistent pace.