NEW ORLEANS – Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints offense went into the game against the Philadelphia Eagles with the certainty that their top-scoring offense would be unstoppable.

Afterwards, they felt like they had been confronted with reality.

The Saints averaged 45.5 points in their first two games, but lost 15-12 on Sunday.

That was the fewest points the Saints have scored since Carr was injured. The offense scored nine points in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4 of last season.

This time, the Saints (2-1) knew what they were capable of, which is why this hit was more painful than usual.

“We felt like we missed a lot of plays,” said wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. “When you lose like that, you always think about it. But we have to put that behind us. Of course it was tough, but we have to focus on next week.”

It was a give-and-take affair for Carr, who completed 14 of 25 passes for 162 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Chris Olave in the fourth quarter to give him the lead with two minutes left.

The Eagles answered with a touchdown and the Saints – who had never trailed before the fourth quarter this season – tried to mount a desperate attack in the final minute, but the rushing Carr was intercepted as he tried to force a throw to Shaheed instead of being sacked.

“I don’t really know what happened,” Shaheed said in the quiet locker room after the game. “It was just a poorly executed play and they were able to win the game. That hurts. But we know it’s a long season and we have to fight back.”

Getting back on track will be crucial for the Saints, who will play at the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4.

“You knew that disaster would happen at some point,” Carr said on Sunday.

Neither he nor the defense chiefs appear discouraged.

“You’re mad because you lost. It makes you angry,” Carr said. “You want to win all these games. But at the end of the day, we played against a really good football team.”

How will the Saints react?

“When you win a close game, it builds your confidence. When you lose a close game, you have to keep going and dig deeper,” said team captain and defensive end Cameron Jordan. “You have to put your all into it. So you need what you need.”

“Buy in” was what the Saints preached during the first two weeks. The Saints warned their players not to buy into the hype after a 2-0 start. They were also 2-0 last season before falling to a 9-8 record.

“We can’t fool ourselves into thinking that bad luck won’t strike us,” tight end Foster Moreau said. “We’re not going to score 50, almost 50 points every game, but we’re trying… 12 points is not good enough. That’s not our standard.”

It only took two plays at the end of the game to show how quickly a season can change. Saints defenders Marshon Lattimore and Will Harris collided while trying to cover a 55-yard pass from Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.

This play led to the Eagles’ lead touchdown with 1:05 minutes left.

“They made the plays when it mattered most. You can play great defense for 55 minutes and after five minutes it can kind of get away from you,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “We’ll learn from this, it’s still early. We’re still confident in what we can do.”

Things were going pretty well for the Saints at the start of the season. There were hardly any injuries, the team took an early lead and remained undefeated for the first 10 quarters of the season.

But it was clear that they weren’t going to get anything against the Eagles. The Saints entered the game without tight end Taysom Hill and center Erik McCoy had to leave after three snaps with a groin injury.

They couldn’t run the ball at will and Carr spent more time under pressure. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, he was pressured on 40.7% of his dropbacks and completed just 4 of 10 passes for 22 yards and one interception under pressure.

The Saints have given other teams a potential blueprint for how to match Klint Kubiak’s offensive prowess, and now as they prepare to play against a division rival, the setback will either shape them or set them back.

“It was tough,” Saints tight end Juwan Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we blew teams off the field, so it’s really like, when have we ever had a game this tough? So this is our tough game. Obviously you want to win these games, but this was one of the tough games we’ve had. It corrects you in some ways. … It can be an advantage or a disadvantage.”