The Atlanta Falcons survived a scare from a fast-paced Philadelphia Eagles offense to secure a 26-24 victory at the Georgia Dome tonight. The Falcons (1-0) were fortunate to win this game because the Eagles (0-1) were executing on offense as if the Falcons defense wasn’t even in the Georgia Dome, especially in the fourth quarter.
The only person who stopped the Eagles’ passing bonanza in the fourth quarter, was Falcons free safety Ricardo Allen, who sat on the Falcons’ practice squad for most of his rookie season of 2014 and wasn’t even expected to be a starter at either cornerback (his natural position) or at free safety. But here is he is and he’s the hero of the Falcons’ season opening victory. He really saved the Falcons on that interception.
As for the Falcons offense, quarterback Matt Ryan and rookie running back Tevin Coleman (20 carries for 80 yards) did their part tonight to take pressure off receivers Julio Jones (9 catches for 141 yards and 2 scores) and Roddy White (4 catches for 84 yards). Now, the rest of the Falcons opponents–all 15 of them–know that there is a new sheriff in town for them to deal with and his name is Tevin Coleman.
Ryan finished 23 of 34 for 298 yards, with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, one of which was an interception for the ages by Eagles inside linebacker Kiko Alonso that should show up on ESPN and YouTube shortly.
Early in the second quarter, Jones extended his teams’ lead with a 4 yard tackle-breaking and body stretching into the zone touchdown reception. Atlanta led 10-0 with 10:44 remaining in the second quarter.
On the Eagles’ ensuing drive, they countered with a Sam Bradford (36 of 52 for 336 yards, 1 touchdown pass and 2 interceptions)completion to receiver Jordan Matthews (10 catches for 102 yards) who took the ball to the ATL 43. That play set up a Bradford a 4th and 1 completion of 18 yards to underrated tight end Zach Ertz (3 catches for 46 yards) who took the pass to the ATL 16. 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.
On what seemed like a sure touchdown drive on their second to last offensive series of the first half, on 3rd and 1 from the PHI 15 yard line, Eagles cornerback Walter Thurmond III (3 tackles and 1 interception) stealthily came into the backfield and snatched Falcons running back Devonta Freeman and threw the back down for a 6 yard loss.
That play by Thurmond a $3.25 million signee in the offseason from the Seattle Seahawks, made the Falcons settle for a 39 yard field goal by Matt Bryant. Bryant’s successful kick gave the Falcons a 13-3 lead with 1:05 left in the second quarter.
But wait there’s more. Jones who in the first half of this game victimized the Eagles’ secondary (8 catches for 97 yards and 2 scores in the first half), namely Byron Maxwell, put the Eagles in a further hole. On 1st and 10 from the PHI 22 yard line, Ryan scanned the field and then looked to his right and found Jones who beat Maxwell to the catch and down the right sideline for a 22 yard score. That play gave the Falcons a comfortable 20-3 lead with 45 seconds left in the second quarter.
Somebody said something really powerful in the Eagles’ locker room, because they came out fired up for the second half, especially on defense. Thurmond III ended the Falcons’ first offensive drive of the second half when he intercepted Ryan down field and returned the theft 23 yards to the ATL 8 yard line. That play set up a DeMarco Murray 8 yard touchdown run down the right sideline which cut the Falcons lead to 20-10 with 13:13 left in the third quarter.
Murray needed that touchdown run. He and Maxwell, whom the Eagles spent a combined $46 million on in guaranteed money this past offseason, looked pretty bad in the first half by virtue of the Falcons D and Julio Jones respectively.
Murray (8 carries for 9 yards and 1 score on the ground) again atoned for his forgettable first half, when at the end of a penalty plagued drive (5 total penalties, with 4 of them attributed to Philadelphia) he caught a Bradford pass that he had to drop his hands low to the ground to catch. Then he ditched some Falcon defenders and proceeded to sneak into the end zone to complete a 5 yard TD reception. It was now 20-17 Atlanta with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
Not far from the midway point of the fourth quarter, the Eagles went on a crisp and fast paced scoring drive gave them their first lead of the night. Bradford was at his best in this game on this drive, as he went 4 for 4 for 76 yards. The Eagles ordered passes on 4 straight plays in that drive and every single last one of them were completed.
Bradford’s frantic passing clinic on the drive, led to running back Ryan Mathews’ 1 yard touchdown run in which he followed blocks from guards Andrew Gardner and Allen Barbre into the end zone. Philly took the lead 24-23 with 8:37 left in the contest.
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. But the Eagles hopes of orchestrating a comeback died a cruel death, when Allen intercepted a Bradford pass at the PHI 29, with Allen then falling to the turf untouched. Game over.
