Knee-Jerk Reactions: Eagles Stunned By Falcons
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's like a punch to the stomach. It pains me to even write this.
Knee-jerk reactions to Falcons 26-24 win over the Eagles.
- Entire offense looked slow and out of sync in first half.
- Offensive and defensive line in particular.
- 1Q - Total yards: ATL 126, PHI 35.
- 1Q - First downs: ATL 7, PHI 2
- The Eagles looked like the Eagles in the second half, but came up short.
- That final drive is haunting.
- Jason Kelce was spectacular all night, except for an unnecessary bad hold on a big Ryan Mathews screen pass with four minutes remaining that stalled a potential game-winning scoring drive.
- Two plays later Ryan Mathews was tripped up on a second down run, that looked like a sure first down.
- Eventually it became 4th and inches.
- Honestly, Chip Kelly looked flustered here. Maybe he could have used a timeout to weigh his options, down two points with under four minutes left.
- Cody Parkey came out and missed the rushed 44-yard field goal. Ugh.
- Zach Ertz had a rough game.
- He went the wrong way on his first target of the game, and then got beat up on a run block early. He wasn't in sync with Sam Bradford all night long....but he made an insane catch in the 4th quarter for a huge first down...
- ...That drive was a six play, 80 yard, 2:12 drive to give the Birds a 24-23 lead. It was beautiful.
- It ended in a Ryan Mathews one-yard touchdown run, where he was stuffed, but literally shoved into the end zone by Allen Barbre.
- Barbe and Andrew Gardner struggled tonight.
- Jason Peters struggled at times. He was beat by Vic Beasley a couple of times and had a bad false start penalty in 3rd quarter.
- A third quarter touchdown drive for the Eagles went 95 yards despite committing five penalties for 75-yards. Seemed like a 1,200 yard drive. Ended in a DeMarco Murray touchdown catch, the SECOND of his career.
- The refs were iffy all game long, I guess fairly awful, but it just seemed like the Eagles got the raw end of a lot of ticky-tack calls. Maybe that's homer glasses.
- Eagles had 10 penalties for 88 yards. Falcons had seven for 57 yards.
- The one play I can't get over: 3rd and 15 late in third, ATL from their own seven yard line. ATL RB Tevin Coleman picks up the first down on a shotgun draw. Just awful.
- Jordan Matthews caught 10 balls for 102 yards, but had the last drop of the game resulting in a game-ending Falcons pick.
- Darren Sproles was the Eagles' best weapon: 5/50 on the ground, 7/76 in the air
- Nelson Agholor: one catch, five yards. Woof.
- DeMarco Murray did have two touchdowns, but only rushed for nine yards on eight carries. Ugly.
- Eagles totaled 16 carries for 63 yards. Again, Sproles had 50.
- Oh, and Sam Bradford. He was decent and got into a nice rhythm late. A couple of early drops, one bad one from Ryan Mathews and one from Miles Austin on a seam route (he would still be running) cost him, but he did miss a couple of passes as well. And Bradford's INT at the end of the first half was a terrible throw and decision.
- Bradford finished 36-52, 336 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT.
- Malcolm Jenkins had an excellent game, other than two blatant interception drops.
- Fletcher Cox was the Eagles' best defender. Consistent penetration all night, despite being held on every other play.
- The Legend of Kiko Alonso is born.
- Byron Maxwell was eaten up all night long by Julio Jones (9/141/2), not a great debut. Yes, he's Julio Jones, but stop him a little bit, will ya?
- MASSIVE tackle by Mychal Kendricks with seven minutes remaining, forcing a Falcons FG to make it 26-24 ATL.
- Secondary play wasn't good overall and I saw a lot more of Chris Maragos than I expected to.
- Chip Kelly wasn't great tonight, let's be honest. First off, kicking the field goal down two points on a 4th and inches is an obvious correct decision, but he could have called timeout to give Parkey a second to breathe. More questionably, the Eagles threw the ball on every single down it seemed like. It was working in the second half, but Chip got out-coached tonight. That's the most shocking part of this game.
- Matt Bryant is automatic. How old is he?!
- The Eagles certainly could have won this game. It's not Parkey's fault for the missed field-goal, or Matthews' fault for the dropped pass, or Kelce's fault for the penalty, or Kelly's fault for his decision to kick. All were terrible moments. They lost as a team, cliche, but true. Really frustrating way to begin this hopeful season.
- Overreaction theater will ensue now, but maybe it's warranted. Who knows anymore? Not I. Football is a cruel game and I'm out of answers.
