By Antonio Borelli After MVP quarterback Carson Wentz went down with a season ending ACL tear back in week 13, almost everyone thought the Eagles magical season would end on a bitter note. After all, who can blame people for thinking this way? In the final three games of the 2017-18 season, the Eagles looked in disarray. One game, the defense didn’t show up, the next the offense was stagnant. Nick Foles didn’t look good. There were reasons for concern. Well, all of those concerns came to a halt on Sunday night at the Linc against the Atlanta Falcons. Coming into the game, the Eagles were a 2.5 point underdog to the visiting Atlanta Falcons, who were coming off a huge upset over the Los Angeles Rams a week ago. Everyone knew this game would be close. What would be the deciding factor in this game? The home team crowd. The Linc hasn’t hosted a playoff game since 2013 when the Eagles hosted the Saints. The fans were ready to go. The game didn’t start off well. In fact, it was a nightmare scenario for the Eagles. In the second play of the game, Eagles running back Jay Ajayi fumbled the ball deep in Eagles territory. That resulted in early points for the Falcons. After 5 minutes in, the score is 7-0. It’s still early but you can see the crowd go from loud to completely dead in a matter or seconds. After the opening score, both offenses trade 3 and outs. The Falcons are forced to punt. Falcons punter, Matt Bosher boots one into the windy night. The ball bounces in front of Eagles Punt Returner, Kenjon Barner. Unfortunately, the ball hits another Eagle and the Falcons recover deep in Eagles territory. The defense steps up and holds the Falcons to a field goal. 10-0 Falcons after a little over a quarter of play. Finally, on the third Eagles offensive possession, they’re finally able to move the ball downfield. The run game really gets going thanks to Jay Ajayi and Legarrette Blount. After a long drive, Blount runs it in from 2 yards out. Kicker Jake Elliott misses the PAT. 10-6 with 3 minutes to go. The Eagles force a quick 3 and out and get the ball back with 2 minutes to go. Before the half, Jake Elliott connects on a 43 yard field goal to cut the Falcons lead to 1. The second half starts and its all Eagles. Matt Ryan and the Falcons can’t muster anything on offense, the Eagles defense and the crowd are too much for them. The Eagles added two field goals in the third and fourth quarter to make it 15-10 with 4 minutes to go with the Falcons set to get the ball for one last time. First play, incomplete. Second play, gain of 5. Third play, sack for a loss of 5. The fans roared in cheer as the Falcons are set to try to convert on a 4th and 10 try to keep their playoff hopes alive. After taking some time to think, the Falcons finally get to the line of scrimmage to play what could be the final play of their season. Ryan steps back, scans the field from left to right, slides up in the pocket and delivers a strike to Julio Jones for a gain of 17 yards. The pressure is on once again for the Eagles. That 4th down conversion fueled the Falcons as they’re now driving down the field and after a neutral zone infraction, the Falcons are now at the Eagles 10 yard line. The intensity is at an all time high now. The Falcons line up, first and goal. Ryan throws incomplete to Julio Jones. Second down coming up. Second down play was a shovel pass for no gain. The crowd goes wild. Big third down play coming up. The Falcons go into huddle. Third down coming up. Ryan hikes the ball, takes a three step drop and finds Julio Jones for a 8 yard gain. The Falcons now face a 4th down and a long 2 yards. The Falcons go to the sideline to talk it over. After a quick break, the Falcons line up for the play. Another timeout is called, this time it’s the Eagles. We finally get back to action. Matt Ryan hikes the ball, rolls to his right, scans, scans. Still rolling. Throws the ball in the back right corner of the endzone, incomplete. The Eagles have won the game. The Linc is shaking, that’s how loud it is. The postgame press conferences were the best. Eagles tackle, Lane Johnson introduces the whole city of Philadelphia to the dog mask, which will certainly be sold out by tomorrow. The Eagles were underdogs and they embraced it.
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Dylan EdelmanWilson Senior Archives
February 2020
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