Jay Ajayi had a pair of touchdown runs, Nick Foles caught another pass to jump-start a sputtering offense and the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles needed another defensive stand to open the season with an 18-12 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night.
A sloppy, mistake-filled game that featured 26 penalties came down to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan throwing an incomplete pass to Julio Jones in the left corner of the end zone on the final play. Jones couldn’t come down with Ryan’s pass in the right corner of the end zone in Atlanta’s 15-10 loss in the playoffs in January.
The Eagles defense fed off the energy of a crowd still celebrating their Super Bowl win with a strong goal-line stand on the opening series, stopping the Falcons three times at the one. They did it again at the end. After Ajayi’s 11-yard TD run and two-point conversion gave the Eagles the lead with 2:25 left, the Falcons could not respond.
NFL (@NFL)
They did it again?
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Nick Foles is catching passes. 🔥
Philly Special: Part II #ATLvsPHI @Eagles pic.twitter.com/Gct9Yt4h3O
Needing a spark on offense earlier in the game, Eagles coach Doug Pederson resorted to the “Philly Special” play that helped the Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33 in the Super Bowl. This time, Foles caught a 15-yard pass from Nelson Agholor to extend a drive that ended with Ajayi scoring a go-ahead one-yard TD run in the third quarter. The play was also reminiscent of Tom Brady’s drop when he played temporarily as a receiver in last season’’s Super Bowl.
On a hot, muggy Thursday night, it looked more like an August preseason game than a playoff rematch. Both teams looked rusty after many starters didn’t play much in preseason. It didn’t compare to the action in Kansas City’s 42-27 victory at New England in the 2017 NFL opener.