This time, the Eagles couldn’t come all the way back from a big hole in the season opener. Before long, the Falcons led 20-3. But those big plays led to just a 29 yard field goal by Cody Parkey to make the score 10-3 with 7:19 left in the second quarter. The Eagles got one more chance, but Sam Bradford’s pass over the middle to Matthews slipped through the receiver’s hands and was intercepted by Ricardo Allen, sealing Atlanta’s victory in the coaching debut for Dan Quinn.
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It was only one game, so there’s no reason to panic, right, Eagles fans? “He’s hit those before”. The second one sailed right through the hands of wide receiver Jordan Matthews.
“He’s one of those kinds of competitors that is ready for it every time”. “My fault”. Falcons punter Matt Bosher pinned the Eagles down at their 5, but the defense gave up a 13-play, 97-yard touchdown drive, including penalties. “I wish I could tell you more, there’s nothing new”, he said. Julio Jones caught nine passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
Atlanta would have had a larger lead if it wasn’t for a spectacular interception in the end zone by Eagles linebacker Kiko Alonso.
Philadelphia rallied behind new quarterback Sam Bradford, taking the lead for the first time at 24-23 on Ryan Mathews’ 1-yard run with 8:37 remaining.
Although he threw 52 passes, the fourth most in his career, in a losing effort against Atlanta, completing 36 of them for a game-high 336 yards and a touchdown, Bradford also had two passes intercepted and finished the game with what would be considered a very sub-par quarterback rating of 49.4.
Now, did the Falcons smother it so much to force Kelly to veer sharply away from it, despite all the talent he collected in DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, despite clearly stating his preference for a certain type of running when he traded LeSean McCoy? Ryan Mathews managed 4 yards on three tries.The play-calling was particularly curious in the first half.
Down 26-24 with 1:48 left in the game and after a Darren Sproles 10 yard punt return, the Eagles took over at the PHI 14 yard line.
Even through all their first-half mistakes, the Eagles had two chances to win the game late in the fourth quarter and blew both of them.
Let’s check out some of the key players and statistics from this one so we can figure out why things played out the way they did.
The Eagles clamped down on Jones in the second half, but he finally got loose for his only catch after the break – a 44-yarder that set up Bryant’s winning kick.
On the first Falcons series of the third quarter, safety Walter Thurmond picked off Ryan and returned the ball 23 yards to the 8. After an incomplete move, Murray took off round proper finish for Philadelphia’s first landing of the season.
But the Falcons were on the verge of snatching back the momentum, facing a third-and-6 from the Eagles’ 26.
As for Maxwell, who, after all was said and done and the final tallies came in, was targeted 11 times by the Falcons and between Julio Jones and Roddy White yielded 10 catches for 179 yards, Kelly said that it was simply inconsistent technique that led to his hard outing against Atlanta.
Explosive as that march was, it was the defense, pushed around in the first half, that got the team back in the game.
The Falcons dominated the first half, stymieing the Eagles’ defense and moving the ball on the ground and through the air.
“The second half was a blast”, Bradford said, via ESPN.
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“He was fine”, Kelly said.
