The defending Super Bowl champion started their season with a win.
Last night the Philadelphia Eagles hung their first Super Bowl banner in team history. The defending champs had to weather a couple of storms to come out victorious in their first game of the season. One of them was Julio Jones. The other was the 35-minute rain delay before kickoff.
Philadelphia head coach, Doug Peterson, was hassled the entire week about his choice to start at quarterback. The 3rd year coach chose Nick Foles to start, while Carson Wentz waits to be cleared for contact. With their defense and Super Bowl MVP behind center, the Eagles have enough to win until Wentz is back in action.
The game resembled the 2018 NFC Divisional Round: low scoring with a dramatic outcome. Jay Ajayi scored a pair of touchdowns and a two-point conversion to lead the Eagles to victory. Nick Foles finished with 117 yards, which was enough to set up both of Ajayi’s touchdowns. The Eagles needed a spark in the third quarter. They dug their bag of tricks once more. The “Philly Special” was live and in effect.
The Eagles defense struggled to defend superstar receiver, Julio Jones. Jones topped all receivers with 10 receptions for 169 yards, but no touchdowns. “That’s a great defense and a great team,” said Jones. “They won a Super Bowl for a reason, they have the same guys on defense.” The next most targeted Falcons receiver was Mohamed Sanu Sr. Sanu finished with 4 receptions for 18 yards.
On the game’s final possession, the Jones caught a pass in the end zone but was out of bounds. “It was deja vu,” said defensive back, Ronald Darby. Darby defended Jones on the final play, rather than Jalen Mills, who was on duty during the divisional round.
The win was not pretty in any fashion. Both teams combined for 26 penalties, but the Philadelphia Eagles are 1-0. Foles is no Carson Wentz, but he and the defense played well enough to get wins. Philadelphia will rest for 9 days, before heading to Tampa Bay to face the Bucs on Sept. 16. The Falcons will host Cam Newton and the Panthers in their home opener next Sunday.
