Comeback Falls Short As Eagles Fall To Falcons 26-24
ATLANTA, GA (CBS) — The Super Bowl talk will have to be put on hold for at least a few weeks, after the Eagles stumbled all over themselves in a 26-24 season-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on Monday night.
Sam Bradford was erratic, starting poorly, and having a few good moments, completing 36-of-52, for 336 yards and 2 interceptions and a touchdown.
The defeat came against an Atlanta team with a revamped offensive line and a new coach, learning a new system.
This game may have said something about the Eagles, who struggled mightily in the half, at one point outgained 180-35 with 10:44 left in the first half, with just 3 first downs to Atlanta's 11.
The Eagles' other new acquisition, cornerback Byron Maxwell, had his issues, too. He was toasted by Julio Jones for 9 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns. But perhaps the most condemning play came when Matt Ryan hit Jones for a 44-yard reception, which set up Matt Bryant's 47-yard game-winning field goal with 2:10 left to play.
The game wore the tinge of a blowout in the first two quarters. The Eagles couldn't do anything right. If not for a Kiko Alonzo interception in the end zone on the Falcons' second possession, the outcome would have come much sooner than Bryant's fourth field goal.
DeMarco Murray, the high-priced tailback was supposed to be another centerpiece in Chip Kelly's offense, had a lukewarm debut as an Eagle. He scored two second-half touchdowns, and at one time had minus-9 yards rushing on his first 3 carries. He finished with 8 carries for 9 yards.
At the most crucial time, Cody Parkey missed a 44-yard field goal with 2:26 left to play. Kelly choose to go for the field goal, instead of going for it on fourth-and-one at the Atlanta 26.
"It was a 44-yarder and I have great confidence in Cody that we're going to put it through, and third-and-one, we didn't get a lot of movement, again, it was a 44-yarder and the ball was kind of the middle of the field, so I didn't think it was a tough one; he's hit those before" Kelly said. "We didn't play very well in the first half, and to give up 10 points right there in the last two minutes of the first half, I told those guys it's a tale of two halves. We did not play well in the first half.
"We couldn't get much movement on their d-line and we were concerned with their defensive line. They had a lot of new guys. Cody was fine. We kicked it with 7 seconds to go on the play clock. I have a lot of confidence in Cody Parkey. He's a Pro Bowl kicker and I've seen him make a lot of big kicks for us."
