Eagles controlled the line of scrimmage battle both offensive and defensive. The defensive line dominated Falcons offensive line as they got pressure on Matt Ryan. Philadelphia ended the game with three sacks and 10 hits on Matt Ryan. Javon Hargrave had two sacks in the fourth quarter and Hassan Ridgeway had one.
Eagles offensive line was just as good as the Eagles rushed for 173 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry behind the efforts of Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, and Lane Johnson. First time seeing all three on the offensive line since 2019.
Eagles offense overpowered the Falcons as they had 434 yards total offense as the Falcons only had 260 yards.
Jalen Hurts looked in form, 27-35 264 passing yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 62 yards. Hurts had a QBR rating of 126.4, great day for the QB1.
In DeVonta Smith’s NFL debut he scored a 18-yard touchdown to go with 71 yards on 6 receptions. The Eagles first round pick became the first Eagle since Marvin Hargrove (1990) to score a touchdown in his first career game, Cris Carter was the other. Smith is the only player in franchise history to have 5 catches and a touchdown in his first career game.
The Falcons are still finding themselves in behind in games because they cant score in the red zone. Falcons failed to score touchdowns in the first two red zone possessions. Failing to convert inside the 10 yard line on both possessions.
Matt Ryan and his offensive line struggled to get momentum as he was pressured mostly all game. In the second half he was sacked three times and failed to get any points. Ryan struggled to find his top weapon Calvin Ridley as he finished with 5 receptions for 51 yards. Ryan finished the game on 21-35 164 yards.
Falcons first round pick Kyle Pitts didn’t have the game fans were looking for. He finished with 4 receptions and 31 yards. I lkow fans wanted to see more out of Kyle Pitts, especially after he only played one preseason game. if i’m fans i wouldn’t get worried it was his first game of his career but i get why fans would feel frustrated. If Matt Ryan had more time to throw, Pitts could have had a better game as none of Ryans weapons had a good day.
Head coach Arthur Smith said, “I did a real poor job getting us ready and feel awful for our fans.” Fans were spotted leaving early out of Mercedes Benz stadium in the fourth quarter.
Only positive note the Falcons had in the game were the 100-yards rushing in the first half as Philadelphia stopped the rushing attack in the second half.
Philadelphia (1-0) have their opener against San Francisco (1-0). Atlanta (0-1) is traveling to Tampa to face off vs Buccaneers (1-0).
