Seven months later, Philly’s special again
EAGLES 18 FALCONS 12
PHILADELPHIA — Matt Ryan to Julio Jones failed again.
Jay Ajayi had a pair of touchdown runs, Nick Foles caught another pass to jumpstart a sputtering offense and the defending champion Eagles needed another defensive stand to open the season with an 18-12 victory over the 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 5.
Jones couldn’t come down with Ryan’s pass from the 2 in the right corner of the end zone in Atlanta’s 1510 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. Wearing his gold Hall of Fame jacket, former safety Brian Dawkins riled up the sellout crowd with owner Jeffrey Lurie by his side and led a chorus of “Fly Eagles Fly.”
Needing a spark on offense, Eagles coach Doug Pederson resorted to the “Philly Special” play that helped the Eagles beat the Patriots, 4133, 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 1-yard TD run in the third quarter.
Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and defensive end Michael Bennett were on the sideline when the national anthem was played. Jenkins raised his fist during The Star-Spangled Banner last year and in the first preseason game. He stayed in the tunnel for the last three weeks. Bennett mostly stayed off the field in the preseason. He wandered behind teammates near the bench and adjusted his equipment this time.