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Talking points from the Eagles' win over the Saints

Observations about Sunday’s Eagles-Saints game.

1. The mistakes aside, the Eagles' offense looked like an offense again: They moved the ball all day. They ran it out of a greater variety of formations - hello, there, to the second tight end, and to the quarterback taking the snap under center - and Sam Bradford did a lot more good things than bad. They only had 10 points at halftime because of Bradford's two interceptions, but they had 300 yards. They finished the game with 39 points and north of 500 yards. The question we all will debate in the coming week is if they have turned a corner or if they just ran into a godawful Saints defense. Truthfully, it looked like a bit of both.

2. How about that Fletcher Cox? There are days when he is good and there are other days when he is unstoppable. This was one of the latter - three quarterback sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, zero answers for the Saints.

3. The first Bradford interception was a truly terrible throw: The second interception was, like the first one, in the end zone. And you had to wonder what Chip Kelly was thinking about his quarterback at that point. It was in the second quarter, and the Eagles were trailing by 7-0, and you do have to think that the words "Mark Sanchez" passed through the coach's consciousness, however fleetingly. Of course, we'll never know.

4. A major, major factor in the game was the fact that a battered Eagles offensive line got through the afternoon in one piece: They have grimly accepted the burden of the offense's terrible inefficiency this season, mostly because they have deserved it. Given that, they deserve a lot of credit in this game - for their physical toughness, but also for their overall efficiency.

5. The Ryan Mathews-is-better-than-DeMarco Murray conversation is now, officially, a thing: Mathews finished the day with eight carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Murray: 20 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown.

6. The stakes were enormous here for both teams, way too enormous for October: The loser of this game fell to 1-4 and, according to recent NFL history, has about a 5 percent chance of making the playoffs, give or take. All of which means that the Saints are now Ted Cruz. Give or take.

- Rich Hofmann