Next Sunday will be Philadelphia’s first NFC title game appearance since the 2008 season and their first at home since the 2004 campaign. Nick Foles was solid in the second half today. There will remain plenty of skepticism about whether he’ll be good enough to win two more games against better competition.
Atlanta’s season ends in disappointment again, but having a game-winning pass go through Julio Jones’ hands has to feel better than 28-3, right? Sure.
Thanks for following the liveblog. Check out The Guardian for NFL coverage throughout the playoffs.
You can read a full report from today’s game here:
Updated
Final score: Eagles 15-10 Falcons
The Eagles pick up a first down and then run out the clock to advance to the NFC title game. They’ll play the Vikings or the Saints. What they do know is that the game will be in Philadelphia.
The Falcons fall to the “underdog” No. 1 seed that was picked to lose today by Vegas.
Not a good season for Julio Jones.
Incomplete! #Eagles pic.twitter.com/tmUPH2TzeJ
— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) January 14, 2018
Falcons fail to score!
Matt Ryan lobs one up to Julio Jones in the end zone and ... the ball passes through his hands. Game pretty much over.
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 1:02 4th quarter
Oh, boy. It’s now 4th-and-goal at the 2 after a catch to Julio Jones on a slant. Here’s the season for these two teams.
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 1:19 4th quarter
Tevin Coleman runs it down inside the 10 for another first down. He has been outstanding tonight. The Eagles have now called timeout to take a breather and to save time when/if they need a response drive of their own.
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 1:49 4th quarter
Falcons now rolling behind Matt Ryan. They’ve got a 2nd-and-3 down at Philadelphia’s 19.
Falcons convert the 4th down!
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 2:55 4th quarter
Matt Ryan hits Julio Jones on a crossing pattern over the middle on 4th-and-6, Jones reels it in and the Falcons have a first down at the Eagle 38. There are no time concerns now for Atlanta. This is their final drive, for good or ill.
Overturned on review!
The Falcons now have 4th-and-6 from their own 44 with 3:04 left in the game and possibly their season.
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 3:20 4th quarter
Big grab by Mohamed Sanu on 3rd-and-6 to get a 1st down at the 50 ... but it looks like the ball was moving and will be overturned on review. #JesseJames
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 4:10 4th quarter
Atlanta picked up the first down, but on the next play, Devonta Freeman got blown up by Brandon Graham in the backfield for a 5-yard loss. Falcons now face 2nd-and-15 from their own 38 and just more than four minutes remain in the game.
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 5:49 4th quarter
Falcons start their big drive at the 24. And Tevin Coleman opens with an 7-yard run. He now has 69 yards on 9 carries.
Field goal Eagles!
Eagles 15-10 Falcons, 6:02 4th quarter
Pederson decides for the field goal. Atlanta can still win with a touchdown. This is where having the (supposedly) better quarterback is supposed to make the difference. We shall see.
Eagles 12-10 Falcons, 6:05 4th quarter
Atlanta stops the Eagles two yards short and now the Eagles have called a timeout to decide if they want to go for it. Doug Pederson is the NFL’s most aggressive coach on fourth.
Eagles 12-10 Falcons, 7:30 4th quarter
Eagles have 3rd-and-3 at the 5. Obviously, a huge play here for Atlanta. A touchdown puts them in a lot of trouble. #analysis
Eagles 12-10 Falcons, 9:53 4th quarter
Eagles picking up big chunks of yards now. They’re down to the 14 and have 2nd-and-1. Foles now 22-of-29 for 244 yards.
Eagles 12-10 Falcons, 13:05 4th quarter
On 3rd-and-7, Foles dumps it to Ajayi and behind some great blocking, he takes it all the way out to the Falcons 48 for 33 yards.
Eagles 12-10 Falcons, 14:40 4th quarter
Momentum all with the Eagles right now. On 3rd-and-20, Ryan dumps it for 15 to Freeman and Atlanta will punt it away again.
End of the 3rd quarter.
Eagles 12-10 Falcons
The quarter ends well for the Eagles: with the lead and a sack of Matt Ryan.
Field goal Eagles!
Eagles 12-10 Falcons, 0:11 3rd quarter
Jake Elliott knocks it in from 37 yards out and the Eagles have the lead back.
Updated
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 0:35 3rd quarter
The Eagles drive peters out when Jay Ajayi drops a pass on 3rd and 10 from the 19.
Updated
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 2:30 3rd quarter
On 3rd-and-8, Foles hits Jeffery again along the left sideline. Eagles are now down to the Atlanta 43.
Jeffery has 4 catches for 61 yards.
Updated
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 4:30 3rd quarter
Foles hits on back to back passes to Alshon Jeffery and the Eagles are out to their 34 and have 1st down.
Updated
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 5:53 3rd quarter
Nice punt by Matt Bosher of the Falcons will give the Eagles the ball at their own 7. He’s had a lot of pressure on his punts so far tonight, but he got that one away clean. And well.
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 6:40 3rd quarter
On 3rd-and-5 from the Eagles 46, Matt Ryan gets sacked and the Falcons will punt it away. The Eagles have dropped him twice now tonight.
Did you guys hear the one about Nick Foles’ plan to fix the government?
— Kyle Madson (@KyleAMadson) January 13, 2018
He wants to overthrow it.
HEY OOOOOOOO.
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 9:44 3rd quarter
Big throw by Matt Ryan to Julio Jones on 3rd-and-11. Jones ran a hook for 12 yards and Ryan hit him. First down on their own 41. Jones now has 5 catches for 55 yards on 8 targets.
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 10:45 3rd quarter
Tevin Coleman carries on Atlanta’s first play for the drive from the 12 out to the 29. He continues to be the most effective back for the Falcons tonight.
There have been 6 plays (not counting punts) for 12 yards so far in the second half. So in case you worried you were missing something, good news: you’re not.
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 11:30 3rd quarter
Aaaaannnnnnd the Eagles counter Atlanta’s three-and-out with one of their own. Philly is punting from midfield.
Falcons 10-9 Eagles, 13:23 3rd quarter
Falcons go three-and-out on their first possession of the second half. Despite the turnover on downs, Matt Ryan twice kept plays alive by moving well in the pocket.
LeGarrette Blount's Rush TD was the 9th of his postseason career, the most in the NFL in the last 5 seasons.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 13, 2018
No one else has more than 6.
This is the play that kept the Eagles drive alive, which led to the field goal. Both teams have benefitted tonight from lucky bounces. (Or been hurt by bad bounces, depending on how you look at it.)
Best completion of the game for Nick Foles #Eagles pic.twitter.com/QxPPhlKFxi
— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) January 13, 2018
Halftime: Falcons 10-9 Eagles
The Eagles have to feel good about being only a point behind considering their two turnovers.
Passing
Matt Ryan - 12-for-17, 116 yards, TD
Nick Foles - 11-for-15, 101 yards
Rushing
Tevin Coleman - 5 carries, 42 yards
Jay Ajayi - 8 carries, 50 yards
Receiving
Julio Jones - 4 catches, 43 yards
Corey Clement - 4 catches, 29 yards
Field goal Eagles!
Falcons 10-9 Falcons, 00:00 2nd quarter
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott hits from 53 yards as time expires to get Philly to within one point. That boot kind of makes up for the missed extra point earlier.
Falcons 10-6 Eagles, 0:12 2nd quarter
The Eagles have first down a the 50 after the Falcons dropped an easy interception and it deflected to the Eagles. Eagles have no timeouts left.
Updated
Falcons 10-6 Eagles, 0:54 2nd quarter
Well, the Falcons didn’t need to use their one timeout ... because they quickly went three-and-out. They’ll put it away to the Eagles from the 50 with less than a minute left in the half.
Eagles yards gained:
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 13, 2018
from pass interference calls- 63
passing- 51
Falcons 10-6 Eagles, 2:08 2nd quarter
Bad miss by Foles to end the Philly drive. Facing 3rd-and-5 at the 46, he overthrew a wide open Trey Burton who had broken free deep near the left sideline. Eagles punt and Atlanta takes over at their 25 with 2:08, the 2-minute warning and one timeout.
Updated
Falcons 10-6 Eagles, 3:10 2nd quarter
On 3rd-and-3 from their own 37, Foles hits Corey Clement out of the backfield to pick up a much-needed first down. The Eagles can now try to end the half with a score or at least without giving the ball back to Atlanta with much time on the clock.
Updated
This is why they call him Matty Ice. #Falcons pic.twitter.com/XdS2XVyUku
— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) January 13, 2018
Touchdown Falcons!
Falcons 10-6 Eagles, 5:41 2nd quarter
Great bit of athleticism by Matt Ryan on 3rd down, dancing through some pressure, to hit Devonta Freeman over the middle for a touchdown. Atlanta’s 10 points are off Philadelphia turnovers.
Eagles 6-3 Falcons, 6:35 2nd quarter
Atlanta doing nothing with the ball since getting it off the muff, but the Eagles D is keeping it alive with penalties. Atlanta now has 1st-and-goal at the 8.
Falcons get the ball on an Eagles punt muff!
Eagles 6-3 Falcons, 7:31 2nd quarter
Falcons punted it away from the Eagles’ 48. The punt went into a heavy wind and then bounced backwards, hitting an Eagles player and then bouncing to the Falcons. Atlanta takes over deep in Philly territory at the 18 with a new set of downs.
Eagles 6-3 Falcons, 9:00 2nd quarter
Atlanta is quickly up to midfield on a long reception to Sanu. Sanu now has 2 catches for 41 yards tonight.
Ryan then went deep to Julio Jones, but badly underthrew it and Jones had to play defensive back. The swirling wind has made both of today’s deep pass attempts look ugly. We probably won’t see more.
Here’s an e-mail from reader Simon:
Evening DJ. What I know about American football you could write on the back of a very small [cigarette] packet, but I agree that the eagle has the edge over the falcon. The big question remains, though - lion or tiger? And let’s not even get into cheese v. chocolate.
Since this is a football liveblog, I’m going to say Lions vs. Tigers would end in a tie. Because in football, the Lions and Bengals never win anything.
Updated
Double-doink #Eagles pic.twitter.com/hcgwEOrCOa
— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) January 13, 2018
Touchdown Eagles! (For real this time.)
Eagles 6-3 Falcons, 10:28 2nd quarter
The Foles score was overturned and the Eagles went for it on 4th-and-goal at the 1 ... and LeGarrette Blount scored on a run around the right side.
Eagles then miss the extra point.
That was a 14-play scoring drive for the Eagles after doing close to nothing offensively in the game leading up to that.
Touchdown Eagles! (Or not.)
Probably not.
The Eagles fumbled the handoff on 3rd-and-goal and Nick Foles jumped on it and kind of bounced into the end zone. But replay shows he was touched short of the goal line. The call on the field was TD, but this will likely be overturned.
Agholor on the misdirection. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/0HazE6vYCI
— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) January 13, 2018
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 11:50 2nd quarter
Nice play call on 3rd and 3. Receiver Nelson Agholor takes a counter handoff down the left sideline to the Atlanta 4.
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 13:29 2nd quarter
Foles hits on back-to-back passes -- to Torrey Smith and Corey Clement -- and now the Eagles have a 1st down at the Atlanta 31.
Atlanta’s McKinley has returned to action, by the way.
End of 1st quarter: Falcons 3-0 Eagles
Jay Ajayi doing work now. Three consecutive runs and a now a reception get the ball to midfield. Eagles will open the second quarter with a 2nd-and-1 at their own 48 as their offense (Ajayi) shows life for the first time today.
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 1:30 1st quarter
Eagles get a 1st down out to the 24 on a nice, shifty run by Jay Ajayi. Looks like Doug Pederson hasn’t benched him after the first drive fumble.
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 2:31 1st quarter
Falcons go for it on 4th-and-2 just into Eagles territory, but fail to complete a short pass to Freeman. However, they snapped it with :00 on the play clock and are flagged for delay of game. Big break for Atlanta because the Eagles get the ball now at the 14 (after Atlanta’s punt) instead of at midfield.
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 4:23 1st quarter
Opening their drive at the 10 after Philly’s punt, Matt Ryan fires a strike across the middle to give Atlanta a first down at the 25. Then Ryan goes to Julio Jones on an out route down the left sideline and the Falcons are out to midfield on two plays. Ryan is 6-for-7 for 73 yards so far.
"Hey, the Eagles are in field goal range.”
— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) January 13, 2018
“Not anymore." pic.twitter.com/AJQ2D48gCl
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 5:26 1st quarter
Nick Foles gets sacked at the 42 on 3rd-and-7. Eagles will have to punt it away. That’s the good news for the Falcons. The bad news is that defensive end Tak McKinley is down injured.
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 6:40 1st quarter
On 1st-and-10 36, LeGarrett Blount drops the fumble and chases it backwards 7 yards to recover. 2nd-and-17 now.
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 8:18 1st quarter
Eagles move the ball again on a defensive pass interference. They’re out to the 46 now after a penalty on 3rd and 10. Foles has thrown the ball four times now (twice officially), and has yet to have a ball land in a receiver’s hands.
Updated
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 8:45 1st quarter
Third play of the game for the Eagles: Ajayi stopped for zero yards at the 25.
Falcons field goal!
Falcons 3-0 Eagles, 9:05 1st quarter
Matt Bryant hits from 33 yards and the Falcons are able to score on their first possession. We’ll see how the Eagles offense responds. So far they’ve have two plays: a horrible pass and a fumble. Can’t do worse? I guess?
Eagles 0-0 Falcons, 9:08 1st quarter
The Eagle defense stiffens on 3rd and 8 at the 15. Matt Ryan throws incomplete to Taylor Gabriel across the middle. Even if he had caught it, Gabriel was hit short of the first down.
Eagles 0-0 Falcons, 11:03 1st quarter
Falcons picking up big chunks of yardage via the run. Tevin Coleman goes 12 yards on 1st down to give the Falcons their fourth first down. Atlanta is now down to the Eagle 17.
Eagles 0-0 Falcons, 12:30 1st quarter
Facing 3rd and 5, Matt Ryan waited out the rush and hit Mohamed Sanu across the middle to convert. Atlanta has a 1st down at the Philly 40.
Eagles fumble!
After the Foles’ duck/pass interference, Jay Ajayi fumbles on the next play and the Falcons have the ball at their own 36.
We may have seen the end of the rumored uptick in Ajayi carries.
Eagles 0-0 Falcons, 14:46 1st quarter
Foles goes deep on the first play ... underthrows it by about 10 yards ... but the ball is so far off that the Falcons DB ran right through the Eagles receiver and is called for pass interference.
Huge break for Eagles. They are now down to the Atlanta 38.
We have kickoff!
Eagles kick returner Corey Clement takes it out to the 25, and we’re underway!
Atlanta wins the coin toss and defers to the second half. #Eagles will get the ball first.#ATLvsPHI
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 13, 2018
Nick Foles has appeared in 49 games in his career, 39 of them starts, and has never faced the Falcons. All the more reason why trying to predict the outcome of this game is hopeless.
Updated
Much love for the people of Haiti! They’ve been thru so much but it was incredible to see so much hope in them—even tho they’ve been stricken by so many natural disasters. Such a resilient nation & a place I’m passionate about. Definitely changed @jmattjmattjmatt and I forever! pic.twitter.com/IiuVudjACC
— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) January 13, 2018
One thing to look for today is to see how the Eagles utilize running back Jay Ajayi. Acquired midseason from the Dolphins, Ajayi has yet to carry the ball more than 15 times in a game.
But there is some speculation that head coach Doug Pederson is planning to unleash him as the feature back now in the playoffs.
While much of the talk entering this game has been about Foles and how much he hurts the Eagles’ chances, the Falcons have been peaking.
Since the start of December, they’ve played six games and - five against playoff teams - and went 4-2 with wins over the Saints, Panthers and Rams. Philadelphia would probably be favored if Wentz was healthy, but not be much.
If you’re looking for in-depth football analysis, this specific item is not that. A zookeeper at the Philadelphia Zoo says an eagle would defeat a falcon in a fight. Via The 700 Level:
“The eagles probably have the advantage over the falcons due to their size and power. The falcons are very fast and very agile but I would say the eagles definitely have that advantage,” Skochinsky said.
The Falcons are the 6th seed playing on the road against the No. 1 seed Eagles ... and yet are 2 1/2-point favorites.
The reason, of course, is Nick Foles. When Carson Wentz went down to a knee injury a month ago, Foles initially played well but then began playing more like, well ... what most expect of Nick Foles. But anything can happen in the playoffs. Just as the Falcons.*
*Yes, a 28-3 reference.
Welcome to the liveblog for the divisional round playoff game for Falcons vs. Eagles!
Please feel free to participate by contacting me via e-mail or via Twitter at @DJGalloEtc.
DJ will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s the latest news on the potential for a London franchise:
The NFL’s international development manager believes the league’s “11-year tease” with London will lead to a permanent franchise, potentially as soon as 2021.
Speaking at the announcement of this year’s three NFL games in London, Mark Waller, the league’s executive vice-president, said the economic case had been proven and it was now only a case of persuading any relocating team it would not be at a competitive disadvantage.
Having staged 21 games in London since 2011, Waller told Press Association Sport there was “no decrease in the enthusiasm for London” among the league’s 32 team owners and “they all know the numbers stack up”. The next task is finding solutions to any concerns a London-based team’s players and staff might have about issues such as accommodation, travel, tax status and schools.
Click here for the full article:
