NEW ORLEANS — When the New Orleans Saints finally found their rhythm, they marched one step closer to the Super Bowl.
Using a dominant ball-control offense and a few gambles that paid off, the Saints got two touchdown passes from Drew Brees and two interceptions from Marcus Lattimore in a 20-14 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Brees took the Saints on scoring drives of 92, 79 and 67 yards after falling behind 14-0. Lattimore clinched it when Nick Foles’ pass from the Saints’ 27 deflected off usually sure-handed receiver Alshon Jeffery with about two minutes remaining. A couple dozen Saints players surged off the sideline toward the end zone in celebration, while Jeffery fell face-first to the turf in agony.
“We were real calm and poised, and we knew we were going to get things done,” Brees said.
New Orleans (14-3) will be home for the NFC title game next Sunday against the Rams (13-4). Los Angeles, which fell 45-35 at the Superdome in November, will try again with the winner going to the Super Bowl. The Saints’ win finished a sweep of the divisional round by teams coming off byes.
Wil Lutz added two field goals for the Saints, who last got this far in 2009, when they won the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia (10-8) won’t repeat as NFL champion; no team has done so since the 2004 New England Patriots.
This was really two games in one. Philadelphia scored on its first two drives as the Saints could do virtually nothing right.
“Listen, they got off to a fast start, they’re a great team,” Brees said. “Nick Foles has done a phenomenal job for them.”
After that opening period, it was all New Orleans yet the resilient Eagles kept it close enough that when Lutz missed a 52-yard field goal with 2:58 remaining, they were only one score behind.
Foles, the hero of last year’s Super Bowl run, got them in position for yet another late winning score, just like last week at Chicago and last February against New England for the championship.
Then, Jeffery couldn’t handle a second-down pass and it was over.
“That’s a great championship team,” Saints Coach Sean Payton said of the Eagles. “We remained confident.”
Brees had 2-yard touchdown passes to rookie Keith Kirkwood and wideout Michael Thomas, who had 12 receptions for a franchise playoff-record 171 yards.
Thomas’ touchdown capped an 18-play, 92-yard drive in which the Saints actually covered more than 100 yards because of penalties. It lasted 111/2 minutes.
“What you saw from him today is what I see every day in practice,” Brees said of Thomas. “He’s a big-time player who wants to be the guy to make plays.”
Philadelphia had the ball for more than nine minutes in the first quarter, then had the ball about 13 minutes and never scored.
New Orleans, which routed Philadelphia 48-7 in November, gambled on its first play and lost. Brees was a bit short on a deep pass to Ted Ginn Jr. and it was picked off by Cre’Von LeBlanc, one of several Eagles backups being used in the secondary due to injuries during the regular season.
“I just think we had to find our rhythm,” Brees said. “I tried to take a shot on the first play. Unfortunately that didn’t work.”
But after the first quarter a lot worked.
Brees, who turns 40 on Tuesday, finished 28 for 38 despite the awful start, throwing for 301 yards.
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