Questionable late-game decision-making and sloppy end-game defense doomed the Birds as they fell 21-20 to the Falcons.
Coming off a thrilling 34-29 victory over a good Green Bay Packers team, the memories of last season started to fade and new, heightened expectations began to form. Mix that with Super Bowl hero Nick Foles’s retirement ceremony during the game, and Jason Kelce’s return to Philadelphia, and you get a perfect storm to be let down as an Eagles fan.
The offense took a big hit before the game when star wide receiver AJ Brown was ruled out with a hamstring injury on Sunday. Brown, the team’s leading receiver last season, is a major part of the offensive game plan and is expected to miss a few weeks with the injury he sustained in practice on Friday.
There was even a lot of good to be gleaned from the offensive side of the ball. After last season’s disastrous ending to the campaign, questions started to form surrounding Jalen Hurts performance at quarterback. Hurts went 23/30 for 183 yards in the air with 1 touchdown and a game-sealing interception late. He added another 85 yards and a touchdown on the ground and looked to have his mobility back after it seemed to elude him last season.
Perhaps most importantly, he also seemed to handle the blitz well, something the team as a whole was incapable of handling last season.
For the second straight week the defense, and more specifically the defensive line, looked suspect. Despite only allowing 21 points in the game, the defense was carved up on the final game-sealing drive, and the line only registered 1 sack against a mostly immobile Kirk Cousins. Bryce Huff, General Manager Howie Roseman’s key offseason signing on the defensive side of the ball, didn’t record a single statistic Monday night and has failed to record a single tackle through two games.
Despite the struggles, the game looked all but over when the Eagles’ defense came up with a big stop on 4th and 1 with just over 5 minutes left in the game. Down 3, the Falcons decided to go for it on 4th and short from their own 39-yard line. Cousins handed the ball to star running back Bijan Robinson and Eagles’ safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson came screaming through the gap to stuff Robinson before the first down.
“It’s do or die, him versus me,” Gardner-Johnson said. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t the ultimate lead to win the game, but there’s other things in this game that we’re going to look at and fix as a team.”
After getting the ball back, the offense gained two first downs and forced Atlanta to call its two remaining timeouts. With 1:46 remaining and facing a 3rd-and-three from the Falcons 10-yard line, and Atlanta having no time-outs, it was decision time. Sirianni chose to take a risk and pass for the first down, but a wide-open Saquon Barkley dropped the throw, stopping the clock and forcing the Eagles to kick a field goal and go up 6.
Despite no timeouts, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins executed the two-minute drill to perfection. After marching down the field, Cousins threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Drake London on a third-and-5 play from the Philadelphia 7-yard line to tie the game. Kicker Younghoe Koo booted an extra point from 48 yards out – a penalty moved the ball 15 yards back – and put the Falcons up for good.
The Eagles still had a chance to win the game having got the ball back with under a minute left 1 timeout, and one of the best kickers in the league in Jake Elliot. Unfortunately Hurts threw his lone interception, effectively ending the game.
The Birds will look to bounce back against the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday where they are currently a 2.5-point underdog.
