Written by Adrian Beecher
Philadelphia, PA – The Eagles won the toss and elected to defer to the 2nd half, with the Falcons receiving the opening kick. The Falcons would pick up two quick 1st downs to get into Eagles territory. Then on a 3rd and 10 from the Philly 39 yard line, Matt Ryan connected with Julio Jones for a 33-yard completion to make it 1st and goal.
Thre plays later, the Falcons would elect to go for it on 4th down from the 1-yard line. Devonta Freeman would take the handoff to the left side, getting stuffed behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 1. This set the Eagles up with a 1st and 10 from their own 2-yard line for their first possession of the game.
Philadelphia’s first possession wrapped up before anything got started, resulting in a 3 and out. On the punt, Philly’s Shelton Gibson would be called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for running out of bound and not returning immediately to the field. This set the Falcons up with a 1st and 10 at the Philly 44 yard line.
The Falcons would once again get the ball into the red zone, settling this time for a 21-yard Matt Bryant field goal, the first points of the game. This made it 3-0 Atlanta with 5:01 left to play in the 1st quarter.
The Ensuing possession for the Eagles was able to get their first 1st down conversion of the season as Nick Foles hit Nelson Agholor for a 6-yard pass completion to make it 1st and 10 at their own 43-yard line. Then on the next play, Brian Poole picked up the Falcons first sack of the season to push the Eagles into a 2nd a 17. The Eagles were unable to get anything moving and had to once again settle for a punt.
At the end of the 1st quarter, the Eagles had 0 total offensive yards, compared 113 yards for the Falcons.
The Falcons next drive would result in a 3 and out. Philly then got to work, as Foles completed three passes to Agholor, setting the Eagles up in Atlanta territory. ON 3rd and 1 from the Atlanta 22 yard line, Darren Sproles would pick up the 1st down to put the Eagles into the red zone for the first time of the night.
Shortly after, a pass interference call on 3rd and 7 by the Falcons would make it 1st and goal at the 9-yard line for the Eagles. Then a holding call against Philly would push it back to a 1st and 19. This would hinder the Eagles and forced them to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Jake Elliott to tie the game up at 3 with 6:09 left in the 1st half.
Atlanta’s ensuing possession would start with a 2 yard Tevin Coleman rush, and then a 22-yard connection between Matt Ryan and Jones. Shortly after, Ryan found Mohamed Sanu for an 8 yard gain and took a lick on the play. This resulted in a roughing the passer call against Philadelphia’s Chris Long, setting up Atlanta with a 1st and 10 at the Eagles 27-yard line.
However, after that the drive stalled out with a 2 yard rush from Ryan, then an incompletion and finally Ryan was sacked for a loss of 9 yards. Matt Bryant would, however, tack onto the Falcons lead with a 52-yard field goal to put Atlanta on top 6-3 with 2:08 left in the half.
The Eagles drive would stall out after back-to-back defensive penalties by Atlanta. Then a 58-yard punt for Philly would set the Falcons up 1st and 10 from their own 11-yard line with 1:20 left to play.
Ryan would connect with Julio Jones for 24 yards, then the drive would stall out. Philly would be unable to get anything going on their final possession, bringing the 1st half to an end with Atlanta leading 6-3.
