Falcons – Eagles instant recap: Late heroics lift Atlanta to a stunning, welcome win

The Atlanta Falcons traveled to play the Philadelphia Eagles, and optimism was not running high ahead of the game in this fanbase after a dismal initial effort against the Pittsburgh Steelers. We hoped the Falcons would get off to a fast start, and they did…sort of.

Defensively, the Falcons smothered the Eagles until Jalen Hurts took over on a statement drive where he ran for 50 yards in the second quarter, which resulted in Philly’s only score of the half. Offensively, the Falcons moved fairly well after the initial slow start, and managed to finish the half with a pair of field goals and a lot of impressive running. They left the half down 7-6.

The second half saw an Eagles field goal fairly early where the Falcons needed a big Jessie Bates play to prevent a touchdown, but the bigger story was the offense getting rolling at last. Huge runs from Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier set up a field goal drive, and then Cousins threw some nice balls en route to a long touchdown to Darnell Mooney, one where the prized free agent signing got free of a defender and was able to house it. The good times were in full swing, but they couldn’t last.

A long, clock-grinding drive by the Eagles resulted in a score and a successful two point conversion, and then the Falcons had the chance to answer and made a series of errors. Darnell Mooney didn’t run deep enough on a route, Kirk Cousins threw a little bit short of the sticks on third down, and a fourth down run for Robinson was stuffed. That gave the Eagles the ball back, and inevitably, they did not relinquish it, squeaking out a hard-fought win against Atlanta. Right?

That’s the story that we expected, and the story I had half-written. It’s the story these Falcons have penned over and over again in recent years, one of a hard-fought effort that turns to bitter disappointment late. But they still had the pen in their hands, and they wrote something different. On the next drive, the Eagles played off the ball in fear of the big play and Cousins ate them alive underneath, with big catches from Darnell Mooney and Drake London setting up the touchdown pass to London with only a little time remaining for the Eagles to try to come back. It was an eye-opening drive from Cousins and this offense, one that proved they have answers they lacked in years past, and it gave them a one point win.

There was still time to blow it, but they didn’t. Instead, Kaden Elliss pressured Jalen Hurts into a slightly off-kilter throw, and Jessie Bates homed in on it and intercepted it to seal the win. The Falcons won, on the road, against Philadelphia after a hopeless Week 1 effort. They dug deep and found the resilience on offense and defense to pull it out against an NFC contender they’ve struggled with for years now. They did, in short, everything we could have asked in the end, and their season is alive and well. It wasn’t always pretty, but in the end, it was beautiful.

On to the full drive-by-drive recap.

1st Quarter

The Falcons won the toss and choice to defer. A short kick was taken by Will Shipley to the 33 yard line. A quick first down pass from Jalen Hurts to Grant Calcaterra got the Eagles moving, but an eight yard pass on first down was called back because of an illegal man downfield. Hurts then rolled out to try to gain a couple of yards and was tripped up before the sideline by Mike Hughes for no gain. Then Hurts hit Britain Covey for five yards, setting up a 3rd and 9, and Hurts tried to run it and was quickly taken down by Troy Andersen. Punt, and the Falcons were pinned deep.

Bijan Robinson took the first carry and went for seven yards. On second down, he made a nice cut and spin again to pick up six yards. Then Kirk Cousins threw a play action pass and had an open Darnell Mooney, but the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage. On second down, he got Drake London for six yards on a ball he ripped into a tight window. Cousins threw it to Bijan on third down and got it to him, but it bounced off his hands and to the turf. Punt.

Saquon Barkley got a hole and ran for an effortless nine yards. Jahan Dotson then got a first down on a quick pass from Hurts for six. Barkley got eight yards on the next carry, too. The pressure got closer to Hurts on the next play, but he was able to rifle one to Calcaterra for a first down. Barkley then a first down again, with superb blocking and a strong effort through contact. A missed tackle on the next play led to another Barkley first down, and then Kenneth Gainwell picked up four yards, and followed that up with a two yard gain. On third down, the Falcons dropped back, flushed Hurts out, and forced a throw to the back of the end zone that was broken up by Richie Grant. Mike Hughes was on Dallas Goedert, and pressure got there enough to force a mildly off-kilter throw from Hurts. Turnover on downs.

Robinson picked up two yards, but it was tough sledding to even get that. On second down, though, a nice block by London sprang him for a first down, and he did his part by putting a defender in the ground. He then picked up three yards on first down, and then Tyler Allgeier picked up three yards up the middle with Josh Sweat hitting him early in the carry. On third down, Cousins forced one to London that was nearly picked off by Quinyon Mitchell. Punt, and Bradley Pinion got enough on it to pin the Eagles inside the 30.

The Falcons held Barkley to a single yard on the next carry, which was glorious. DeVonta Smith was the target on the next play, and A.J. Terrell flew in and hit him after a five yard pickup. Hurts was pressured by David Onyemata on the next play and had to force a low throw on the run that was broken up. Punt, and Avery Williams got 12 yards on the punt return.

Cousins threw a play action pass on the next play, and though it was low Drake London managed to scoop it out of the dirt for 19 yards.

2nd Quarter

Allgeier picked up four yards on first down. Cousins then hit Allgeier over the middle for 12 yards, and then some nice blocking and some familiar Allgeier burst got the Falcons 15 yards. On the next carry, Bijan didn’t get the handoff and managed to fall on it for a loss of one. Robinson then tripped a little bit on second down and managed a couple of yards. On third down, the Falcons called a timeout just before the snap. Cousins didn’t see anywhere to go with the ball and managed to scramble for a yard. Younghoe Koo banged the field goal home to make it Falcons 3, Eagles 0.

Four yards for Barkley on first down, but then Hurts was able to loft one to DeVonta Smith for 19 yards. Grady Jarrett then got free of a block and forced Hurts to throw it away. On second down, Matthew Judon blew into the backfield and took Barkley down for a loss of one. Goedert then caught on as the Falcons blitzed on third down, but he only got seven yards. The Eagles elected to go for it, and Hurts was able to evade pressure and then scramble for a big gain, but he was called for a delay of game which cost the Eagles five yards but did not result in a loss of the first down. A toss to Barkley was eaten alive by the Falcons defense for a loss of five, but then Hurts was able to scramble for nine yards. On the next play, he got loose again and the Falcons failed to bring him down for another first down. Hurts’ pass was incomplete on the next play, and an ineligible man downfield penalty backed the Eagles up five yards. A quick pass to Covey resulted in just two yards, but then Hurts was able to hit Smith for a touchdown. Eagles 7, Falcons 3.

The Falcons only got a short return from Avery Williams, and a penalty backed them up further. A handoff to Ray-Ray McCloud resulted in just two yards. With a rusher in his face, Cousins got rid of the ball to Kyle Pitts, who only managed two yards on the play. McCloud then caught a first down over the middle. Robinson then got a carry and rolled for nine yards, and then Bijan took it for close to 15 yards and a potential holding call on Drew Dalman was picked up. Cousins then pump faked, seemingly seeing contact in the secondary, and got sacked by Brandon Graham. That was thankfully wiped out by an illegal contact call on Nakobe Dean, giving the Falcons a first down and five yards. Then Cousins went to Mooney and there just wasn’t enough zip on the ball, as it was low and broken up. Then he absolutely zipped one on the next play for a first down to McCloud over the middle. Unfortunately, McCloud was then called for an unsportsmanlike conduct call and that resulted in a 15 yard backup. Bijan got about seven yards on a quick pass from Cousins, and then Robinson kept going through contact and picked up 14. Allgeier was able to take it about five yards on first down, and then Allgeier went right up the middle for seven yards and a first down. Cousins hit Robinson for a quick gain that went nowhere, but it went nowhere in part because Brandon Graham got flagged for a facemask. Robinson went up the middle and was bottomed up for a one yard loss on first and goal. Cousins tried for Mooney on second down, but threw it a little too far to the sideline for Mooney to get to. Cousins then had to fire it on third down out of the back of the end zone for a lack of options. Koo hit the field goal to make it Eagles 7, Falcons 6.

The Eagles kneeled it out.

3rd Quarter

After the touchback, Cousins threw a low ball that Bijan was able to scoop it up for a seven yard gain. Bijan then kicked it outside for a 19 yard carry. Bijan then went up the middle for another five yards gain on first down. Robinson then took a screen pass from Cousins, who was under pressure, and nice blocking helped him to get 14 yards. Allgeier took it 10 yards on first down on the very next carry, and then picked up another five yards on the next play. The toss play was less productive as Allgeier ran out of room, but he did pick up a yard. Cousins then dropped back to pass, but got sacked quickly by Milton Williams, who blew through Chris Lindstrom with alarming quickness. Koo hit the field goal try, though. Falcons 9, Eagles 7.

Touchback. Saquon Barkley picked up nine yards on first down, and then plunged over the middle for another three or so yards and a first down. The next play, Matthew Judon got home and took down Hurts for a sack and a five yard loss. Unfortunately, he had time and found DeVonta Smith for a first down working against Dee Alford. A quick pass to Barkley resulted in yet another first down. Barkley got three yards on his next carry, and then Hurts rolled out and was able to find Smith for a sideline first down. Barkley then got about five yards. A quick pass to Covey got a couple of yards, and then an end zone shot was broken up by Jessie Bates flying in with physicality. The Eagles lined up for a field goal and then tried a little motion-based trickery to force Atlanta offsides, but they did not bite. Jake Elliott converted the short field goal try, and it was Eagles 10, Falcons 9.

Touchback. Drake London caught the short first down pass and bullied his way to close to a first down. Allgeier then picked up a couple of yards and the first down. Pressure came for Cousins quickly and he got rid of it, showing a little movement skill along the way. A quick screen to Robinson went absolutely nowhere on second down. Pitts caught it for about an eight yard gain, which left the Falcons about four yards short of a first down. The Falcons went for it on fourth down and managed to keep Cousins clean long enough for him to find Ray-Ray McCloud over the middle for a first down. On the very next play, Cousins found Mooney over the middle, and Gardner-Johnson couldn’t get him down as Mooney stayed alive and scored the touchdown. Falcons 15-10, and they went for two points and did not get it.

Touchback. Hurts scrambled for a couple of yards on first down, and then Covey got a big pickup and a first down…before an ineligible man downfield call backed things up. DeVonta Smith got nine on the next play to set up a manageable third down.

4th Quarter

Hurts had all day, was able to roll away from a pursuing Judon, and completed it to Covey for a first down. Another quick hit to Covey picked up three yards, and then Barkley got another three through the air. Yet another strike from Hurts to Smith was just short of a first down, and they got the fourth down try. Barkley got about four, but the Falcons made him work for it. Covey got about three yards before Terrell wrecked him, and then Hurts ran up the middle for an easy first down. Barkley then took it eight yards on first down, and Hurts was able to evade one tackle and pick up a first down again. Barkley got away from a would-be tackle for a first down, but a holding call backed it up 10 yards, thankfully. A big run from Hurts got the Eagles close yet again. Barkley got a yard to set up 3rd and 3, and then Hurts swung out a pass to Barkley and got a first down just shy of the end zone. Inevitably, the Eagles and Hurts pushed it in. Eagles 16, Falcons 15 and the two point try was ruled good despite a despondent Jason Kelce “oh no” in the booth, making it Eagles 18, Falcons 15.

The Falcons took the touchback. Bijan got a yard or so on first down running outside, and then Cousins took a deep shot to Mooney, but he had stopped running full bore at some point and the ball sailed way over his head. On third down, Cousins hit London just short of the sticks, and the fourth down try by Robinson was stuffed. Turnover on downs.

A first down run by Barkley was called back due to a holding penalty. Barkley was then hit by James Smith-Williams and Jessie Bates for a loss of a yard. Hurts then got Goedert for 16 yards, setting up third and short. A quick pass to Barkley resulted in a first down. Barkley was brought down for no gain by Grady Jarrett, and then powered through for what the officiating crew deemed a first down. They wound up calling it, however, and then Hurts got a first down on the tush push again. A quick run to Barkley, another run to Barkley, and the Falcons had burned their timeouts. On third down, Barkley somehow dropped the pass in his hands, and the Eagles converted the field goal try to make it 21-15 Eagles.

Cousins hit Pitts for a first down over the middle on the start of the next drive, and then he aired one out to Mooney for 21 yards. Mooney then caught another one on the sideline for a big chunk gain and got out of bounds. Then London reeled one in for a five yard gain with 43 seconds left on the clock. Cousins took an end zone shot at McCloud, and the officiating crew declined to call a pass interference on the Eagles corner, given that it was borderline, but it hardly mattered. Cousins dropped it in for Drake London and a touchdown on the very next play to tie things up, but a penalty for a celebration on London backed up the extra point try 15 yards. It didn’t matter, because Koo knocked it home. Falcons 22, Eagles 21.

The Eagles had time and timeouts, and they got a quick first down. But things change in an instant, and pressure from Kaden Elliss got home as Hurts launched an off-kilter one to a waiting Jessie Bates, who intercepted it to seal the win on the road. The Atlanta Falcons are 1-1 with a stunning upset victory, and I couldn’t be happier.