PHILADELPHIA -- Last season, Fletcher Cox didn't get a lot of sacks, but he did earn a lot of respect. This season, Cox is getting the sacks and even more respect as one of the best defensive ends in the NFL.

Cox had three sacks -- two of which resulted in fumbles that led to two scores -- as the Philadelphia Eagles ran away from the New Orleans Saints 39-17 on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

"He was just a beast out there, but he's been doing this for a while now,'' Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin said. "He played great last year, but just didn't get the numbers. Now he's even more dominant and he's finally getting the numbers and the recognition he deserves.''

Last season, Cox finished the season with four sacks, and he has that many already after just five games.

"Shoot, he's a good football player and he made some plays,'' Saints coach Sean Payton said. "He was around the quarterback today, I know that.''

Cox's first sack, in the second quarter, forced a fumble from Saints quarterback Drew Brees and gave the Eagles (2-3) possession on the Saints' 46, and that led to a field goal and a 10-7 Eagles lead at halftime.

Cox did it again in the third quarter after the Eagles took a 17-10 lead. This time he knocked the ball out of Brees' hands and recovered it himself, and that set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Bradford to tight end Brent Celek to give the Eagles a 23-10 lead with 6:31 left in the third quarter.

Bradford completed 32 of 45 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns, while running back DeMarco Murray has his best game as an Eagle. The former Dallas Cowboy rushed for 83 yards on 20 carries after rushing for just 47 yards in his previous three games.

"By no means are where we want to be as a team,'' Bradford said, "but this was a step in the right direction."

For New Orleans (1-4), it was another step in the wrong direction, and even though Brees completed 26 of 43 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns, he was also sacked five times and intercepted once.

"We played pretty well in the first half and made the plays we needed to make,'' Saints defensive tackle Kevin Williams said. "But we made too many mistakes in the second half and they did what a good team is supposed to do when you make mistakes -- they took advantage of them.''

The Saints' first interception of the year led to their first touchdown of the game. Midway through the first quarter, the Eagles drove to the Saints' 12-yard line, but cornerback Brandon Browner picked off an underthrown pass from Bradford in the end zone and New Orleans took over on its 20. The Saints then drove 80 yards in eight plays, with Brees connecting on a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Benjamin Watson to give the Saints a 7-0 lead with 3:35 left in the opening period.

The Eagles tied the game early in the second quarter, when wide receiver Josh Huff crossed the middle of the field and caught a pass from Bradford, and when two Saints defenders collided into each other, Huff had clear sailing to the end zone to complete the 41-yard TD play.

The Saints got three of those points back on their first possession of the second half, on Zach Hocker's 21-yard field goal with 11:12 left in the third quarter. But the Eagles answered with possibly their best drive of the year as they moved 80 yards on nine efficient plays, with running back Ryan Mathews scoring from the 2 to make it 17-10 with 6:44 left in the period, and they never trailed after that.

NOTES: The Saints played without two starting offensive linemen -- LT Terron Armstead (knee) and RG Jahri Evans (knee), who has now missed three straight games. Rookie Andrus Peat, a first-round pick from Stanford, made his first NFL start in Armstead's place. ... Also inactive for the Saints was starting DE Bobby Richardson (hip), who was replaced by Kaleb Eulls. ... Eagles LB Marcus Smith, last year's first-round draft pick, was activated for just the second time this season because of injuries to starters Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) and Kiko Alonso. ... Rookie Jordan Hicks started in Kendricks' place.