Atlanta Falcons Hold On, Beat Philly 26-24 on MNF

The Atlanta Falcons hold on to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 26-24 in their home opener on Monday Night Football.

This was a game of two halves, with the Atlanta Falcons dominating in the first and Philadelphia clawing their way back in the second. Atlanta led 20-3 at halftime, completely shutting down Sam Bradford and the Eagles’ offense. The momentum shifted in the Eagles’ favor with a 14-point quarter in the 3rd and led the game 24-23 late in the ball game.

Where I believe the difference was in tonight’s game was on the ground for the Atlanta Falcons. While Matt Ryan was good, but not great (23-24 for 298 yards 2 TDs and 2 INTs), it was the persistent rushing attack of Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman that kept many Atlanta Falcons’ drives alive.

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Coleman and Freeman combined for 98 yards on the ground. When was the last time you can remember the Atlanta Falcons rushing for nearly 100 yards in a game? Tevin Coleman rushed the football 20 times for 80 yards. The former All-American at Indiana could become the work horse, featured back that Kyle Shanahan needs on offense.

Both of Ryan’s TD passes went to Julio Jones, who had a monster game receiving (9 receptions for 141 yards and 2 touchdown catches). He is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic wideouts in the NFL. Roddy White had a great game with 4 catches for 84 yards coming off offseason elbow surgery.

Though the defense looked impressive in the first half, perhaps it was the grueling pace of Chip Kelly’s Eagles offense that tired out the Dirty Birds in the second half. I thought that O’Brien Schofield had the most complete game of anybody on the Atlanta Falcons’ defense. He played great in a familiar scheme, often disrupting Sam Bradford’s rhythm in the pocket.

Atlanta was fortunate to have a three-score lead heading to halftime. The Atlanta Falcons were only able to get six points on the board in the second half, thanks to the most clutch kicker in football: Matt Bryant. He really was the saving grace for the Atlanta Falcons today, accounting for 12 of Atlanta’s points (3 field goals and 2 PATs). We are so lucky to have a Top 5 kicker in the NFL on our roster.

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Philadelphia had two great opportunities to seize back the lead down 26-24. Opting for a field goal inside of 3 minutes, Kelly rushed kicker Cody Parkey and he ended up missing on what would have been a go-ahead field goal for the Eagles. Atlanta promptly went three and out.

Matt Bosher continues to boom the ball on long punts, putting Philly in bad field position for their two-minute drill. The Atlanta Falcons defense mustered together one last stand inside of two minutes. Ricardo Allen was able to intercept a tipped pass thrown towards WR Jordan Matthews by Sam Bradford to end the game.

I knew that the Week 1 game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles would go down to the wire. It did come down to the accurate leg of Matt Bryant, but not as time expired. Atlanta moves to 1-0 before having to travel to the Meadowlands to play the New York Football Giants at MetLife Stadium. Great first victory of the season, on Monday Night Football nonetheless. Rise Up, Atlanta!

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