In the Falcons’ first primetime matchup in ages, it sure felt like the same ole’ Falcons for about 58 minutes against the Eagles.
Atlanta’s defense was once again the strong point in the first half, bending but not breaking and holding Philadelphia to just seven points. But it wasn’t enough to go into the locker room with the lead, as the offense continued to struggle, especially in the red zone, mustering just six points on two field goals.
However, Kirk Cousins and Zac Robinson had some answers in the second half. They would start the third quarter with yet another field goal drive, which was answered with an Eagles field goal of their own to regain the lead. Then, Atlanta put together their best drive of the season, converting a critical fourth down around midfield before Kirk Cousins hit Darnell Mooney for a 41-yard touchdown. A failed two-point conversion kept the Falcons’ lead to just five, but Atlanta had all of the momentum with just over a quarter left to play.
Unfortunately, this has been the issue for the Falcons for well over a half-decade, failing to play complementary football. When one side of the ball begins to do its job, the other side falters, leading to a lot of excruciating losses. That’s exactly what looked like what was going to happen yet again on Monday night.
The Eagles responded to the Falcons touchdown with a touchdown drive on their own, almost exclusively running it down the throat of Atlanta’s defense, chewing up nearly 10 minutes off the clock. They’d also convert the two-point conversion, giving them a three-point lead with just under seven minutes remaining.
Still, Kirk Cousins and the Falcons offense had a lot of time to make something happen after scoring on four straight drives. But a critical stop on 4th and 1 just shy of midfield had things looking incredibly bleak, especially considering a gassed Falcons defense had to come back onto the field and attempt to stop the Eagles rushing attack, something they could not do the entire second half.
Philadelphia would get a few first downs, forcing Raheem Morris to burn all of his timeouts right after the two-minute warning. That’s when everything changed.
The Eagles set themselves up with a 3rd and 3, which, if converted, would have put the game on ice. But instead of running it like they had the entire half, they decided to get cute, leaking Saquon Barkley into the flat. The play was there, but the execution wasn’t. Barkley would drop the pass, preserving an extra 40 seconds on the clock for the Falcons offense and forcing the Eagles to settle for a short field goal.
Still, based on everything we’d seen from Kirk Cousins through two weeks, it didn’t look like the Falcons were capable of going the length of the field with under two minutes to go and no timeouts. But man… did a flip seem to switch for the 36-year-old veteran.
Immediately, Cousins began the drive with an 11-yard connection to Kyle Pitts. Then, came the chunk plays. Back-to-back 20+ yard passes to Darnell Mooney had the Falcons in the red zone quickly with just under a minute to go, and two plays later, Cousins would hit a wide open Drake London just passed the pylon for the go-ahead score.
It was an incredible drive for Kirk Cousins in just his second game with the Falcons, but he almost left too much time on the clock. 34 seconds remained with the Eagles only needing a field goal, and if you’ve been a Falcons fan long enough, you know how these games usually turn out.
However, perhaps Raheem Morris really is the guy to break the Atlanta curse that has reigned over the professional football team for decades. Jalen Hurts did complete his first pass of the drive for a first down after the Falcons chose to only rush three, but defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake had seen enough. He decided to bring a little pressure, and on Hurts’ next drop-back, that pressure led to an errant throw that fell into the arms of none other than All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III.
It was one of the most remarkable comebacks you’ll ever see, and it very well may have saved the Falcons season for a number of reasons.
An 0-2 start in the National Football League is almost impossible to overcome, especially considering the Falcons have the Chiefs next week, followed by the Saints and Bucs. But perhaps even more importantly, the morale of this Atlanta team, particularly Kirk Cousins, has to feel totally different. They now know they can hang with the big dogs and win, no matter where the game is played. They also know they have a quarterback, one that gives the Falcons a chance to win every time they step on the field.
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Photo: Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire
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