A late touchdown to Julio Jones and a tackle short of the line of gain on fourth-down Zach Ertz reception sealed the Atlanta Falcons‘ 24-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
PFF's ReFocused series features immediate takeaways from the two analysts who graded the game live. The two offer a detailed breakdown of the game's most notable performances before the grades and advanced stats are reviewed and finalized by Senior Analysts.
All of PFF's grades and advanced stats from this game and the other games played this week will be finalized and made available to ELITE subscribers within 24 hours of the final whistle. ELITE subscribers can view player grades, advanced statistics, positional snap counts and more in Premium Stats.
PFF's ELITE subscribers can also preview NFL and NCAA games in PFF Greenline, an online dashboard with projections for the spread, totals and moneyline.
Final Score
Atlanta Falcons 24, Philadelphia Eagles 20
Atlanta Falcons
Takkarist McKinley turned in one of the better single-game performances of his career against Philadelphia, picking up multiple pressures on the night.
Deion Jones showed what the Falcons missed last season with his speed and ability to read plays quick. One of his best plays was in the run game, where he beat the blocker and made a tackle for loss.
A little more than a week after signing a massive contract extension, Julio Jones once again proved his worth. He had five catches for 106 yards on the night and showed he still has plenty of speed by outrunning the Eagles' secondary on a fourth-down screen pass to not only convert but take it all the way to the end zone and give Atlanta the lead.
It wasn't Matt Ryan‘s best night. While he did have a few nice intermediate and deep throws, he also had a few head-scratchers that either gave Philadelphia great field position or took potential points off the board with an interception in the end zone.
Rookie Takeaways
Kaleb McGary didn't turn in a strong performance before or after the injury. He finished the contest with underwhelming marks in pass protection and the run game.
Philadelphia Eagles
Carson Wentz had a game of two halves. In the first half, he was 6-of-16 with two interceptions. Then, in the second half, Wentz drove the Eagles down the field with only half of his receiving corps and put them in position to record the win. The biggest play of the game was when Nelson Agholor dropped a perfect pass down the left sideline that would have had a chance to go for a touchdown with just over a minute left.
The Eagles' offensive line showed that four out of the five are still one of the dominant offensive line units in the league. The weak spot was left guard, where Issac Seumalo struggled with Grady Jarrett and the stunts from the outside.
Matt Ryan went after Ronald Darby in coverage early and often, and Darby came up on the wrong side of many of those. He was beaten deep multiple times, missed a tackle after a catch, and while he did have an interception, it could hardly have been any easier after an underthrown ball by Ryan.
The Eagles took advantage of some injuries along the Atlanta offensive line, but they also won in pass-rushing matchups on the edge. While the defense only sacked Ryan once, Derek Barnett and Brandon Graham had him under pressure on several occasions, beating Atlanta's tackles very quickly at times.
Rookie Takeaways
JJ Arcega Whiteside was a non-factor in this one. He had an opportunity to rise to the occasion with so many injuries to the Eagles' skill players, but he still struggled to make plays and finished the game with one catch for four yards.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.