Holding onto a slim four-point lead with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles offense took over with Mike Kafka at the helm. To this blogger's horror, Kafka was surprisingly effective. With the help of a bunch of a few screen passes, he was able to guide the Eagles all the way down to the Atlanta 21 at the time of the two-minute warning.
The Falcons came up with a big stop on third down, courtesy of an exemplary wrap-up tackle by Chris Owens, and the Eagles trotted out to go for it on fourth down. On a night where Jeremy Maclin absolutely shredded the Falcons defense, the Falcons come up with a huge fourth down stop that all but seals the Falcons victory.
And then, Mike Smith does something that shall forever confuse this Falcons fan. Instead of trying to run for the first down with Michael Turner, one of the best backs in the league, Smith elected to kneel the ball three times and punt the ball away with 0:15 left in the game. Keep in mind that Matt Bosher is not a very good punter and DeSean Jackson is one of the best return men in the league. Just something worth pointing out.
Still, a win is a win. Better yet, a win over a very good football team in the Eagles has the Falcons back on track in this 2011 season. Breathe easy, folks. Now is the time to bask in the glow of tonight's win. It's great to see the Falcons "are who we thought they were." Full, glorious recap to come tomorrow.
For more, head to Falcons blog The Falcoholic and Eagles blog Bleeding Green Nation