Eagles stop Falcons in NFL opener

PHILADELPHIA — Matt Ryan to Julio Jones failed again.

Jay Ajayi had a pair of touchdown runs, Nick Foles caught another pass to jump-start a sputtering offence and the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles needed another defensive stand to open the season with an 18-12 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night.

A sloppy, mistake-filled game that featured 26 penalties came down to Ryan throwing an incomplete pass to Jones in the left corner of the end zone on the final play from Philadelphia’s five-yard-line.

Jones couldn’t come down with Ryan’s pass from the two in the right corner of the end zone in Atlanta’s 15-10 loss in the divisional round in January.

A weather delay pushed the kickoff back 45 minutes, forcing fans to wait for the unveiling of the “world champions” banner following the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory. The defence fed off that energy with a strong goal-line stand on the opening series, stopping the Falcons three times at the one.

They did it again at the end.

After Ajayi’s 11-yard TD run and twopoint conversion gave the Eagles a lead with 2:25 left, Ryan led the Falcons down the field. He completed a 36-yard pass to Jones and connected with him again for 18 yards on third-and-17.

The Falcons had a first down at the 10 but Ryan threw four straight incomplete passes. But a penalty on Jordan Hicks gave them one more chance and the Eagles held again.

Needing a spark on offence, Eagles coach Doug Pederson resorted to the “Philly Special” play that helped the Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33 in the Super Bowl. This time, Foles caught a 15-yard pass from Nelson Agholor to extend a drive that ended with Ajayi scoring a go-ahead one-yard TD run in the third quarter.

On a hot, muggy night, it looked more like an August preseason game than a playoff rematch.