Week 8 Wrap-up: Eagles 17, Falcons 30

(Photo: Philadelphia Eagles)

The Eagles’ defensive struggles proved to be a crushing part of the Birds’ loss today as they fell to the Atlanta Falcons by the score of 30-17.


In the first half, the Atlanta Falcons showed no problems moving the ball up the field and scoring completing a perfect first half with points coming out of every possession. In their first drive which resulted in a 15 yard Matt Ryan to Drew Davis touchdown, Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense took eight minutes off the clock. From there, the Falcons did not look back as their offense continued to dominate throughout the rest of the game.

The Eagles offense showed major improvements with play calling and ball movement. The pass/run ratio was much more even in comparison to past weeks where Michael Vick took mostly to the air. The run offense helped the Eagles move down the field including a drive which set up a 2 yard touchdown run by Lesean McCoy.

While the offense showed some signs of bouncing back, the defense struggled to stop Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense. Perhaps one of the most damaging plays in the game came during a blown coverage by cornerback, Nnamdi Asomugha, which led to a 63 yard touchdown pass from Ryan to Julio Jones. Jones would go on to finish the game with 5 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.

The defensive struggles would continue in the second half as they struggled to stop Atlanta’s running attack. Running backs Jacquizz Rodgers and Michael Turner finished the game combining for 32 carries for 118 yards. This included a 43 yard run by Rodgers that came after a missed tackle by Dominic Rogers-Cromarite.

The defense also struggled to get to Matt Ryan as they only were able to sack him twice, the second volunteered by Ryan to keep the clock running late in the fourth.

The offense continued to fight with a 7 yard receiving touchdown by Lesean McCoy. The Falcons then began to bring pressure keeping the Eagles out of scoring position for the rest of the game.

Next week on Monday Night Football, the Eagles will take on the New Orleans Saints who also saw early season struggles. Since the Eagles are just 3-4, there is no reason to count them out just yet as there is still plenty of time to regroup and refocus for the remainder of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 pm.