NEW ORLEANS — It’s a win that will reverberate. It would’ve been a loss that reverberated.

The Philadelphia Eagles again lost the turnover battle. They lost four offensive starters to injuries, and another on defense. But Saquon Barkley’s 65-yard burst finally put the Eagles on the board less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, and he crossed the goal line again with 1 minute, 1 second left on the clock to put the Eagles back in front after they’d surrendered their lead late.

Here’s our instant analysis from the Eagles’ improbable 15-12 win against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome.

The winning drive

New Orleans took a 12-7 lead with 2:03 to go when Chris Olave tapped both feet down in the left side of the end zone on a 13-yard pass. The lead the Eagles had worked so hard to get was gone, and they were staring at a 1-2 start.

But with five normal starters on offense missing, the Eagles took the lead on Barkley’s touchdown run after a 61-yard connection from Jalen Hurts to Dallas Goedert, who finished the day with 10 catches for 170 yards. Goedert ran a crossing route from the right side of the formation to the left and was freed up when two Saints defenders collided. The Eagles scored on the next play, Barkely diving in from 4 yards out and then adding a two-point conversion run.

Barkley tallied 147 rushing yards on the day.

Injuries pile up

The Eagles were already down star receiver A.J. Brown, who missed his second straight contest with a hamstring injury. But one by one Sunday, their injury list grew. They were forced to replace the right side of their offensive line when right guard Mekhi Becton left with a finger injury and All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson suffered a concussion.

An already thin wide receiving corps took a hit when Britain Covey was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury, and then DeVonta Smith, in a scary scene that had multiple players kneeling around him, left the game with a concussion.

Smith’s injury came near the end of a play when his forward progress appeared to have been stopped. But Saints defensive tackle Khristian Boyd hit Smith up high, knocking his helmet off.

Later, inside six minutes to play, cornerback Darius Slay needed to be helped off the field.

The Eagles have long struggled when Johnson misses time, so the attention will turn to how long their star right tackle will miss.

The Eagles have a much-needed bye week after their Week 4 contest in Tampa Bay.

Fourth-down decisions

Nick Sirianni staunchly defended his fourth-down decision making last week, and six days after those choices put a spotlight on the coach’s role as CEO and game manager, fate followed him south.

Near the end of the first half, with the Eagles trailing 3-0, Sirianni called timeout to set up a fourth-and-1 on the Saints’ 15-yard line and 14 seconds on the clock. A half from hell could have ended with a 3-3 score, but the Eagles instead went for it, and with two backups playing on the right side of their line, they did not Tush Push but instead handed it off to Barkley, who was stuffed at the line.

According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats model, the Eagles would have increased their win percentage by 8.1% by kicking instead of going for it.

Out of halftime, the Eagles faced another fourth down on their first drive. A steady dose of Barkley put them on New Orleans’ 34-yard line and they faced a fourth-and-3. Sirianni again opted to go for it, and Hurts was sacked. The Eagles could have led 6-3, but instead still trailed 3-0.

Later, Sirianni opted to let kicker Jake Elliott attempt a 60-yard field goal with the Eagles leading, 7-6, and the clock ticking under 7 minutes. The kick failed, and the Saints had the ball to start their go-ahead drive at midfield with 6:41 left.

In a game in which the Eagles outgained New Orleans, 460 yards to 219, all of these decisions were magnified.

Turnover woes continue

Sirianni said after the Eagles won their opener in Brazil that it wasn’t sustainable to lose the turnover battle and win football games.

The Saints didn’t give the Eagles the ball until Derek Carr threw a desperation interception in the final minute. But Hurts threw an interception in the end zone and later failed to protect the football when being flushed to his left side. Hurts also held the ball low and Carl Granderson sacked him, forcing the ball free for what was the sixth Eagles turnover in 10 quarters.

The turnovers overshadowed what was an otherwise decent performance from Hurts, who was missing Brown and later finished the game with only three healthy receivers.

Defense holds up

The Saints entered Sunday as the hottest offense in the NFL through two weeks. New Orleans was averaging 45.5 points in two games, and the Eagles defense under new coordinator Vic Fangio was being called into question.

But when the Eagles offense needed it most, its defense delivered.

The Eagles held Carr to just 142 yards through the air and sacked him once while more consistently than usual applying pressure. They held Alvin Kamara to 3.3 yards per carry and New Orleans to 3.1 on the day after allowing a league-worst 6.4 yards per attempt through two games.

And when Hurts and the offense put the defense back on the field after taking the late lead, it delivered, Reed Blankenship’s interception sealing a win that will resound.

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