Another special play for Eagles, another missed chance for Falcons
PHILADELPHIA » Nick Foles’ best move on a disgustingly humid, disjointedly timid first evening of 2018 regulation football came as a receiver, not as a quarterback.
Reaching back for a little wintery excitement — or maybe just a spark of any sort for his dead offense - Eagles coach Doug Pederson Thursday night dialed up another version of the so-called “Philly Special” that helped beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII last February.
In another remarkable ode to the glorious recent past, that “Philly Special II” play only would go down as a repeat winner because the Eagles almost repeated their path to victory over the Atlanta Falcons in this, the opening game of the 2018 season.
Just as it had in that playoff game in January, the Falcons’ would-be game-winning drive came down to one final Matt Ryan pass attempt to Julio Jones — only this time to the left side of the end zone instead of the right. What also was different this time was Jones caught the ball, only he did so out of bounds, leaving the Eagles as 18-12 winners.
For the fans who on a sticky night in September sounded much the way they had on that mid-winter playoff afternoon, this nearly identical outcome was as thrilling as the last win over the Falcons. That they had another special Philly moment with Foles as a receiver was only an important topping.
Last time in Minneapolis, the Eagles skipped a chip-shot field goal attempt and instead had Foles lined up in a slot and the fourth-down snap went to Corey Clement. He coolly pitched the ball on an apparent end-around to tight end Trey Burton, who promptly chucked a perfect pass to a wide-open Foles in the end zone for a touchdown just before halftime, giving the Eagles a 10-point lead over the Patriots they would need to win a championship.
This time, Foles — limping along at 15-for-24 for 82 yards and no TDs — faced a third-and-6 at the Falcons’ 41. He handed off to Clement, who rolled around and again reverse-flipped the ball, this time to receiver Nelson Agholor. He essentially pulled up and let go a hand-grenade lob toward Foles, who caught it ... and realized he had to run this time.
Much easier when you catch a ball that’s already a touchdown. They called this version Philly Philly ... but whatever, it was pretty special.
Foles rumbled for most of what would be a 15-yard gain before stumbling and falling out of bounds. It was, at that point, the longest completed pass of the game for the Eagles. And it was enough to do what Pederson had intended, give his offense a spark.
Just two plays after “Philly Special II” the Eagles scored on a oneyard Jay Ajayi plunge to take their first lead of the game, 10-6.
What they wouldn’t be able to do is hold down the Falcons’ Matt Ryan in the fourth quarter. First the Penn Charter-bred quarterback, gifted with a Deion Jones interception of a pass that had bounced off tight end Dallas Goedert, drove his team downfield and cheered on a nine-yard Tevon Coleman touchdown run for a 12-10 Falcons lead.
Kicker Matt Bryant was nice enough to miss the extra point, but the Birds wouldn’t need the nicety, as Ajayi again scored, both a touchdown run and two-point burst, giving the Eagles an 18-12 lead with just more than two minutes left to play.
But it wasn’t over just yet. While the Patriots also had a strong comeback in the second half after falling behind via the Philly Special in the Super Bowl, it was the Falcons — held mostly in check by a strong Eagles defensive effort to that point — who essentially provided a replay of their divisional playoff game last January at the Linc that went down to the last play.
To the Eagles’ fortune, Ryan again wouldn’t be on target. His first fourth-down effort in the fi-