The Philadelphia Eagles are 1-1 after losing to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. Final score: 22 to 21.
It looked like the Eagles had this game won.
They were facing 3rd-and-3 from the Falcons’ 10-yard line with a three-point lead and 1:46 left in the game. The Falcons didn’t have any timeouts left.
Instead of deciding to run the ball, however, Jalen Hurts was used on a play-action boot to throw to Saquon Barkley … who dropped the pass that hit his hands. Had he caught it, the Eagles win the game by running out the clock.
Instead, the drop gave the Falcons ample time to march down the field. And that’s exactly what they did, going 70 yards for a touchdown in just six plays with 1:05 off the clock. The extra point gave the Falcons a one-point lead.
Still, the Eagles had a chance to move in position for a game-winning Jake Elliott field goal with 0:34 on the clock and two timeouts remaining. But after completing a pass to Dallas Goedert for a first down, Hurts threw deep and got easily picked off by Jessie Bates to seal the game.
Brutal, brutal loss.
Instead of being 2-0, the Eagles are now 1-1 with back-to-back road games against the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming up. Both of those NFC South teams are 2-0 and looking good early on this season.
Making matters even more difficult for Philly, they’re traveling to New Orleans on a short week after this Monday game. And it sounds like A.J. Brown will miss at least one more game, if not two.
Yikes.
Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.
FIRST QUARTER
- The Falcons won the coin toss and elected to defer. Jalen Hurts opened the game by ripping a throw over the middle to Grant Calcaterra for a first down. A Britain Covey catch was wiped out by a tacky illegal man downfield penalty on Cam Jurgens. Hurts once again did not look fast on a 1st-and-15 run to the left sideline that gained just one yard. Facing 3rd-and-9, Hurts took a designed run for three yards. How is that the play call there? Too reminiscent of last year. Maybe, you know, throw beyond the sticks?! And why no Saquon Barkley touches on the opening drive?!
- Bijan Robinson took two runs for a first down. Then Jordan Davis deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage and Kirk Cousins simply missed Robinson on a third down throw to bring up a Falcons punt.
- The Eagles took over for their second drive at their own 36-yard line. They immediately got the ball to Saquon, who ran for nine yards, much to The Linc crowd’s delight. The Eagles continued to rely on Saquon, who powered them to the red zone while basically looking unstoppable. Then two straight Kenny Gainwell runs only picked up six yards. Facing 3rd-and-4, the Eagles brought Saquon back in to more cheers from the crowd. Hurts had forever to throw before rolling left and throwing incomplete along the left sideline in the end zone. It looked like he could’ve taken off running for a first down, if not at least a 4th-and-short. Nick Sirianni kept the offense on the field on fourth down. Hurts called a timeout. Then Hurts rolled left and forced a ball to a tightly covered Dallas Goedert in the end zone for a turnover on downs. Why go away from Barkley in the red zone!?!?
- Facing 3rd-and-5, Quinyon Mitchell dropped a would-be pick along the sideline. Great job to step in front of Drake London to ultimately break it up, of course, but would’ve been a big deal to finish that play to give the Eagles the ball in scoring territory.
- Instead, the Eagles began their third drive at their own 25-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-4, Hurts eluded pressure and tried to force a throw to DeVonta along the sideline that was incomplete. Three-and-out.
SECOND QUARTER
- Cousins completed a pass to a wiiiide open London in the middle of the field for 19 yards. The Falcons continued to drive into field goal range. The Falcons were fortunate to recover a handoff dropped by Robinson. Facing 3rd-and-9 just outside of the red zone, the Falcons took their first timeout with the play clock running down. Cousins took off running after seeing no one and got tackled for just one yard. Younghoe Koo made the 39-yard field goal attempt to put the Falcons on the board first. EAGLES 0, FALCONS 3.
- The Eagles began their fourth drive at their own 30-yard line. A Hurts to DeVonta Smith completion gained 18 yards. Barkley got tackled for a loss to bring up a third-and-long. A completion to Dallas Goedert brought up fourth down. Operating in no man’s land, Sirianni kept the offense on the field to go for it on 4th-and-3 from the Falcons’ 41-yard line. Hurts could’ve had a completion to Dotson if he threw before the receiver’s break but he ended up running up the middle himself for a 23-yard run. Spiking the ball in celebration, Hurts picked up a rare post-snap delay of game penalty. Lame. Facing 3rd-and-11, Hurts took off running again and bounced off contact to get beyond the marker. Great play. Another illegal man downfield penalty, this time on Lane Johnson, set the offense back to 1st-and-goal from the 9-yard line. A designed play for Britain Covey — questionable high-leverage usage! — picked up just two yards. Then Hurts threw to DeVonta Smith, who made a good catch on the ball thrown behind him, in the back of the end zone for the Eagles’ first touchdown! 11 play, 70 yards, 6:07 off the clock. Powered by Hurts’ legs. EAGLES 7, FALCONS 3.
- Will Shipley had a nice tackle on kickoff coverage and the Falcons had a penalty to back Atlanta up at their own 14-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-6, Cousins found an open Ray-Ray McCloud III in the middle for the field for a first down. Robinson ripped a 15-yard run to cross midfield. Brandon Graham sacking Cousins got wiped out by Nakobe Dean being called for illegal contact on Drake London, which basically had no impact on the play. Ref show. C.J. Gardner-Johnson baited McCloud into punching him for a penalty after the play to negate 15 yards of an 18-yard gain. The Falcons pounded the rock to get to 1st-and-goal from the 6-yard line with 0:26 left in the first half. Graham accidentally facemasked Robinson while trying to make a tackle on a screen to set the Falcons up at 1st-and-goal from the 3-yard line. A Robinson run got stopped for a loss by Thomas Booker IV. The Falcons called their final timeout. Graham pressured Cousins into an incompletion on a pass meant for Robinson. Facing 3rd-and-goal, Cousins’ throw went way high and out of bounds into the stands. Never seen that dramatic of a throwaway before. Good job by the Eagles’ defense to ultimately allow just three points after an 82-yard drive. EAGLES 7, FALCONS 6.
- Armed with one timeout and 0:06 left, Sirianni decided to take a knee and go into the half.
THIRD QUARTER
- The Falcons quickly drove to the red zone. Milton Williams came up with a third down sack to force the Falcons to settle for another short field goal make. EAGLES 7, FALCONS 9.
- A mix of Barkley runs and Hurts throws to DeVonta, who is very good, got the Eagles to the red zone. The Eagles went back to their designed Covey play they ran to gain three yards. Why force feed him down there? Facing 3rd-and-3, Hurts’ throw to DeVonta Smith was caught but the ball got punched out of the receiver’s control before possession. Sirianni decided to settle for a Jake Elliott field goal on fourth down. Hardly a vote of confidence in the offense. EAGLES 10, FALCONS 9.
- Really bad whiff by Darius Slay on London allowed YAC after a London catch. Thomas Booker IV, maybe the Eagles’ best defensive lineman?!, had a nice tackle on a screen to set up third down. Facing 3rd-and-12, Cousins’ pass to Kyle Pitts went for eight yards. And then the Falcons went for it on 4th-and-4 with Cousins able to hit an open McCloud for a first down. Then Cousins hit an open Darnell Mooney, who broke through a shoddy CJGJ tackling attempt, for a 42-yard touchdown. Not good! The Falcons went for two and Cousins’ pass into traffic was incomplete. EAGLES 10, FALCONS 15.
- The Eagles got hit with their third ineligible man downfield penalty (second on Jurgens) to wipe out a Covey completion.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Facing 3rd-and-4, Hurts scrambled left, ran back right, and was able to find a crossing Covey for a first down completion. Facing 3rd-and-6, Hurts completed a pass to DeVonta just shy of the sticks. A Brotherly Shove easily went for the first down, raising the conversion rate this season to 3/5. Facing 3rd-and-3, Hurts took off running and bowled over a defender after gaining a first down. Johnny Wilson got called for holding to knock the Eagles back to 1st-and-16 from the 18-yard line. Hurts took off running for 12 yards. Two plays later, Hurts hit a wide open Saquon on a play-action boot for a touchdown. Or not because the play was reviewed and Barkley was ruled down just short. No matter, the Eagles ran the Brotherly Shove for the score. 2/2 tonight, 4/6EAGLES 18, FALCONS 15.
- The Falcons took over at their own 30-yard line with 6:47 left. Facing 3rd-and-9, Cousins completed a pass to London to bring up fourth down. Facing 4th-and-1, CJGJ met Robinson in the hole to stop him short of the marker for a turnover on downs! HUGE STOP. The refs originally threw a flag for CJGJ’s helmet coming off in celebration but they decided it came off accidentally.
- Landon Dickerson got called for holding to wipe out a big Saquon run. A completion to Goedert, just his third target of the game, got the Eagles to a manageable third down. Facing 3rd-and-3, a short Hurts throw to Saquon moved the chains with yards after the catch. Barkley exploded for what was originally ruled as 10 yards and a first down before being moved back to 3rd-and-1 at the two-minute warning. The Falcons jumped offside, seemingly on purpose to keep the clock stopped, and Sirianni wisely declined. Brotherly Shove, 3/3 tonight, 5/7 on the season. The Falcons called their second timeout at 1:51. Then they called their final one at 1:46. Facing 3rd-and-3, the Eagles ran another play-action boot … and Hurts’ pass (!) bounced off Barkley’s hands to stop the clock when the Eagles could’ve ran it instead. Oof. Elliott’s 28-yard field goal was good. EAGLES 21, FALCONS 15.
- The Falcons took over at their own 30-yard line with 1:39 remaining. They needed just three plays to get to the Eagles’ 12-yard line with 0:48 left. Then got to the 7-yard line. Maddox broke up a pass to bring up third down. Facing 3rd-and-5, Cousins hit London for a touchdown. Lol. Awful. London’s unsportsmanlike penalty pushed the Falcons back to a 48-yard extra point try … but Koo still made it to give the Falcons the late lead. EAGLES 21, FALCONS 22.
- The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line with 0:34 left and two timeouts to work with. A completion to Goedert over the middle moved the ball to their own 43-yard line with 0:27 left and one timeout to work with. Hurts threw it deep and got picked off by Jessie Bates, who sealed the game for the Falcons. Wow. Terrible loss.
FINAL SCORE: EAGLES LOSE, 22 to 21
LINEUP NOTES
- Maddox was the first-team nickel cornerback again.
INJURY UPDATES
- Landon Dickerson was a little slow to get up after a Barkley run early in the second quarter. He stayed in the game.
- Avonte Maddox got banged up in the fourth quarter. He was able to finish the game.
