Two forced turnovers, two fourth-down stops, four sacks and a scoreboard shutout for three quarters Sunday wasn't quite enough for the New Orleans Saints defense in a 15-12 loss to Philadelphia in the Caesars Superdome.

Two explosive plays – a 65-yard touchdown run by Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and a 61-yard reception by tight end Dallas Goedert on third-and-16 that led to a touchdown – unraveled what would have been a highly productive day for New Orleans.

The two plays accounted for 27 percent of Philadelphia's 460 yards, with the other 65 plays totaling 334 yards.

"Defensively, we did a lot of good things," Saints Coach Dennis Allen said. "We took the ball away, we got a couple of fourth-down stops. But the explosive plays and just not being able to finish the game when we had a chance to finish the game, that was disappointing."

The Saints successfully stymied the Eagles for 45 minutes, but the Eagles erupted for touchdown drives of 82 and 69 yards in the fourth, highlighted by the two big plays.

"The run play with Saquon, we just didn't fit that up quite right," Allen said. "We got out of a gap. We initially fitted up right – they did a good job blocking it, they combo-ed up to us. And then once he got out in the open, he's so fast and explosive, we weren't able to run him down.

"The other one, we've got to have a little bit better awareness and kind of know how they're trying to attack us. They got us in man coverage and ran crossing routes and we ran into each other. We've got to do a better job of having awareness in that situation."

Allen said the Saints were working a stunt when the ill fit occurred on Barkley's run.

"We had a little stunt working and we got out of our gap a little bit," he said. "That's the thing: When you play a guy like Saquon Barkley, you get out of the gap just a little bit and he's got the explosiveness to take it the distance. That's what happened."

Allen also found some positives for the offense (6sixof 13 on third down, a 50-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to take the lead), but acknowledged the obvious struggle for the unit, which totaled 219 yards and one touchdown.

"Offensively, we really didn't move the ball like we have in the past, but there's still some things – our third-down offense was good, when we had to go down and score to take the lead at the end of the game, we were able to go down and get points on the board," he said. "That was a positive.

"There were a lot of good things on that tape, and yet there were too many negatives on the tape that kept us from winning the game."

NO INJURY NEWS: Allen did not have an update on the statuses of center Erik McCoy (groin) and linebacker Demario Davis (hamstring or groin). McCoy was injured on the third play of the game and did not return, while Davis' injury flared late in the fourth quarter.

"No one wants to see a Pro Bowl center go down," Allen said of McCoy. "Obviously, he's one of our better players on our offensive line, so that's a challenge. And yet, everybody in the NFL has to deal with those challenges and we expect our guys to be able to go in there and perform.

"I thought Lucas Patrick did a nice job going in and filling in in Erik's spot. It was a challenge for us, but that wasn't the difference in the game."

'WE DO PLAY HARD AND WE DO PLAY PHYSICAL:' The Eagles leveled charges of dirty play against the Saints after the game. One hard hit resulted in Philly receiver DeVonta Smith suffering a concussion. Allen defended his players Monday.

"I'd say this: I'd say our guys play extremely hard. And we're gonna compete until the down is over. I don't think we play dirty, I don't think we ever have played dirty. It's not the way we coach it, not the way we teach it, but we do play hard.

"Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt, nobody's trying to hurt anybody. But unfortunately, that's part of the business that we're in. But we don't play dirty, we don't coach dirty. But we do play hard and we do play physical."

FOURTH DOWN: The Saints were unsuccessful on their lone fourth-down attempt against the Eagles, when Alvin Kamara was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the Eagles' 18-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter. Other possible fourth-down attempts were declined.

Allen explained why.

"Say, it's fourth-and-8 on the 40-yard line, do you attempt a 58-yard field goal and go up 6-0? It's fourth-and-8, I don't know that that's the down and distance that we're looking for to potentially go for it on that down and distance. So based on the way the game was going, we tried to pin them down there deep and see if we could play the field position game.

"The fourth-and-4 at the 42, I don't think you're trying to kick a 60-yard field goal. That was what Philly did, and it worked out to our advantage (Eagles missed, Saints drove 50 yards for their lone touchdown). I think the decision there was go for it or punt it, and we chose to punt it there and I don't think that one came back to bite us, either.

"And then the fourth-and-1, that was a no-brainer in my opinion. We're going for that, I've got confidence that our guys can go and get it. We just didn't execute as well as we needed to on that play."