In the Falcons’ 26-24 victory over the Eagles on Monday night, Jones looked as though he might challenge those numbers by catching eight passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
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“It’s just that he doesn’t back down”, Atlanta coach Dan Quinn, who earned a victory in his head coaching debut, said of Jones. That ultimately led to dejection, when the Eagles’ 26-24 loss Monday night to the Falcons was sealed on two crucial misplays in the final 21/2 minutes.
“You just trust the preparation, let it rip and have fun”, said Quinn, previously defensive coordinator of the Seahawks.
The Eagles missed a chance to go ahead when Cody Parkey missed a 44-yard field goal with 2:27 to go.
Kelly opted to deal for quarterback Sam Bradford, the first overall pick of the Rams in 2010 who hadn’t played since October 2013 because of two ACL tears in his left knee. He set a franchise record with four field goals of more than 50 yards, and he tied Alex Henery’s record for making 88.9 percent of his field goals (32 of 36).
Shanahan’s scheme, which emp-hasises the X-receiver by moving him around all over the field and in motion, will afford Jones plenty of opportunities in the passing game. But Philadelphia’s much-hyped running game, led by newcomer DeMarco Murray, was largely a bust. Bradford was nearly flawless in the second half outside of some bad routes, and it wasn’t his fault the Eagles lost.
“The plan with dealing with Julio is very hard because he lines up in so many different spots”, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said. Sam Bradford led Philadelphia down the field that was capped off by a five-yard touchdown pass to Murray. Murray, Mathews and Darren Sproles combined for 16 total carries. Atlanta rookie running back Tevin Coleman produced 80 yards on 20 carriers.
The Eagles seemed to be in control of the NFC East for much of last season but folded down the stretch, while the Falcons, thanks to a weak NFC South, were in the playoff hunt until getting blown out by the Carolina Panthers in Week 17.
“Our defense stepped up at the end of the game”, Ryan said. The Falcons targeted Maxwell 11 times and completed 10 of them, for 179 yards and a touchdown.
The game started to get away from the Eagles late in the first half. And midway through the fourth, the Eagles had the lead. But we kicked it with seven seconds left on the play clock. It could have been even more if not for Kiko Alonso’s dazzling one-handed interception while falling backward in the end zone.
Like the offense, the Falcon defense was brilliant in the first half, as it held the Philadelphia offense, which was the highest-scoring unit in the league during the preseason, to a mere three points.
WR Jordan Matthews caught 10 passes for 102 yards to lead the Eagles.
But the Falcons were on the verge of snatching back the momentum, facing a third-and-6 from the Eagles’ 26. The injury wasn’t serious, but one of the Eagles’ goals for this season is to keep Bradford from requiring postgame X-rays.
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It wouldn’t last. 49ers 20, Vikings 3 – The revamped San Francisco defense looked a lot like its predecessor, holding Adrian Peterson to 31 rushing yards and visiting Minnesota to a field goal in a dominant performance to end Week 1 in the NFL.
