Jalen Hurts took a shotgun snap on a third-and-6 from the Saints’ 15-yard line. It was a critical down for both teams back in Week 11, with the Eagles fighting to go from 2–5 into the playoff picture and the Saints trying to hang onto a spot as a 5–2 start had begun slipping away. The second-year quarterback was hoping to find one of his most dependable targets against one of the best third-down defenses in football.
New Orleans was rushing four defenders and had three more—linebacker Kwon Alexander, cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Malcolm Jenkins—in the second tier of its defense to handle the receivers jockeying for the first-down marker.