By Josh Kendall, Brooks Kubena and Tobias Bass
It wasn’t pretty for the Atlanta Falcons, but it was a win against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on “Monday Night Football.”
Kirk Cousins did what he was signed in Atlanta to do, executing a 70-yard touchdown drive within the final two minutes to secure the 22-21 victory. Cousins was an efficient 20-for-29 with 241 yards and two passing touchdowns, one to Darnell Mooney and the go-ahead score to Drake London with 38 seconds left.
“For Kirk to go down there and handle it like he has been his whole career was huge for us,” London said on the broadcast postgame.
THE FALCONS TIE IT WITH 34 SECONDS LEFT.
📺: #ATLvsPHI on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/j2bWgkxmC4— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024
Atlanta was able to spoil Saquon Barkley’s homecoming. He rushed for 95 yards on 22 attempts, including a two-point conversion along with four catches for 21 yards receiving. DeVonta Smith led the game in catches with seven and was second in yards (76) without star receiver A.J. Brown, who missed Monday’s game with a hamstring injury.
The Eagles look to get back on track next week against one of the NFL’s most surprising teams this season in the New Orleans Saints. The Falcons face the toughest test of their young season as they take on the Super Bowl defending champs in the Kansas City Chiefs.
Falcons eye NFC South lead
The Falcons stay within sight of the NFC South lead with Monday night’s dramatic win. New Orleans and Tampa Bay sit atop what is the NFL’s most surprising division with 2-0 records, but Atlanta saved itself from being in a two-game hole by rallying to beat Philadelphia. — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer
Run-first offense works
After signing a big-money quarterback (Cousins) and a wide receiver (Mooney) in free agency, it looks like Atlanta’s best offense may be just doing what it was trying to do the last three years — run the ball. The Falcons rushed for 152 yards, led by Bijan Robinson’s 97 yards on 14 carries, and it helped them wrestle back control of the time of possession from the Eagles in the second and third quarter. However, Robinson was stuffed by safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter, so there’s work left to be done.
Tyler Allgeier added 53 rushing yards on nine carries.
Mooney was off to a slow start to his Falcons career before he came to life in the second half on Monday. He caught a 41-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter and made another big catch on the game-winning drive. After catching one pass on his first six targets in Atlanta, Mooney finished Monday’s game with three catches for 88 yards.— Kendall
Eagles need more from their pass rush
The Eagles must have better production from their pass rushers. Milton Williams had the only sack for the Eagles, which forced a punt. Otherwise, the Eagles did very little damage to Cousins.
Bryce Huff — Philadelphia’s prize signing in free agency — once again posted zeroes in the box score. Cousins was 5-of-6 passing for 70 yards on the game-winning drive, delivering the back-breaking 7-yard touchdown to London. — Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer
Philly’s disastrous outing against the run
Gardner-Johnson nearly made the key play in what was otherwise a dismal defensive day for the Eagles. On fourth-and-1, with the game on the line, it seemed almost certain that the Falcons would pick up the first down. Robinson was averaging 7.4 yards per carry entering that pivotal play. The Falcons had been pushing the Eagles around on their own home turf. But Gardner-Johnson sped through through the hole and stuffed Robinson for a game-saving turnover. But bad defensive play did the Eagles in.
There remains so much for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to clean up with what was once again a disastrous outing against the run. The Eagles still rank last in the NFL surrendering 6.7 yards per rush. — Kubena
Life without A.J. Brown
Jalen Hurts nearly won the game with his legs. There wasn’t much open downfield for an Eagles passing game that lacked Brown (hamstring). Hurts relied on the short game. He averaged 6.3 air yards per attempt, per TruMedia. Then, when that failed, Hurts tucked it and ran. Some were scrambles. Some were designed runs. Nowhere was this most stated than on a 17-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that took 9 minutes, 34 seconds off the clock.
Hurts had six carries for 33 yards and was 7-of-7 passing for 35 yards. He finished the drive off with a 1-yard score within the infamous Brotherly Shove. But the lack of downfield options inhibited the Eagles on their last-effort drive. Hurts heaved the pass deep to DeVonta Smith in heavy coverage. Jessie Bates intercepted Hurts to seal the game. — Kubena
(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
