What We Saw Week 2 – Falcons @ Eagles

Falcons @ Eagles Final Score: Falcons 22, Eagles 21 Writer: Brett Ford (@FadeThatMan on Twitter/X)   The Philadelphia Eagles entered Monday night coming off an impressive victory over the Green...

Brett Ford
What We Saw 3 Months Ago

Falcons @ Eagles

Final Score: Falcons 22, Eagles 21

Writer: Brett Ford (@FadeThatMan on Twitter/X)

 

The Philadelphia Eagles entered Monday night coming off an impressive victory over the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Meanwhile, the Falcons came to Philadelphia after getting embarrassed at home by Chris Boswell and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense. Though both offenses were highly sought after in the fantasy community this preseason, both had question marks entering Monday night. The Eagles were without top wide receiver AJ Brown, while the Falcons looked downright lost in their opener.

This game was all but over as the Eagles marched down the field and looked as if they were going to ice the result with their running game. Instead, Barkley dropped a game-sealing pass, stopping the clock and holding the Eagles to a field goal, allowing the Falcons to mount a comeback drive. Trailing by six with 1:39 and no timeouts, Kirk Cousins went full “YOU LIKE THAT” mode and changed the narrative surrounding his season so far with one drive. Cousins found Drake London in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown to propel the Falcons to a mind-blowing comeback win in Philadelphia.

Four Up

  • Both Offensive Lines (Running game) – Does this count as one up, two up, or ten up? Either way, both of these units were winning the battle in the trenches on a solid majority of rushing snaps. Most noticeable on pulling plays, the Eagles’ line dominated the Falcons’ defensive front, consistently getting to the second level, where they occupied linebackers long enough for Barkley to clear them on several runs. The Falcons’ O-Line looked the best on outside zone runs, clearing paths for Bijan frequently and consistently.
  • Saquon Barkley – Strong, shifty, and getting space behind an above-average offensive line.
  • Bijan Robinson – Strong, shifty, and getting space behind an above-average offensive line – these running backs look extremely similar other than different general schemes.
  • Devonta Smith – With AJ Brown out of commission, Smith immediately stepped into an alpha wide receiver role.

Two Down

  • Kirk Cousins – Physically, he’s still not right. I’ll get into it deeper below, but he just looks like he’s still nursing an injury. We saw the potential of this offense on the final drive of the game. Imagine if it was like that for an entire 60 minutes.
  • Kyle Pitts – Pitts continues to be neglected from a usage standpoint as the Falcons find new and interesting ways NOT to get him the football.

 

Atlanta Falcons

 

Quarterback

 

Kirk Cousins: 20/29, 241 Yards, 2 TD | 4 Carries, -1 Yards

Cousins is still hurt. Plain and simple. He’s consistently not driving the ball for deep or high-velocity throws, and it’s limiting the potential of this passing game in a lot of ways. There seemed to be some improvement, though, as Cousins was taking snaps under center relatively consistently this week whereas he almost exclusively took shotgun snaps last week.

Whether or not it’s attributed to leading a new offense or if his lingering achilles injury played into it, Cousins looked like his timing was off all night and missed open receivers pretty regularly, just not looking their way when they made their breaks. Maybe the chemistry improves as the season goes, but right now it’s not pretty.

So, I wrote all of that before the final drive of the game. Cousins looked awful until the final drive when he looked like “YOU LIKE THAT” Kirk Cousins and I’m not really sure how to feel about him now. On the final drive, Cousins looked poised, confident and HEALTHY – delivering the ball on time and accurately to take his team 70 yards in just 1:05 for the game winning score.

 

Running Back

 

Bijan Robinson: 14 Carries, 97 Yards | 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 25 Yards

Showed great vision on several runs, making solid one-cut decisions and getting up field quickly against a stiff Eagles defense. His offensive line did a great job at the point of contact while Robinson made guys missed and gained extra yardage on a lot of plays. He’s an elite player with an elite role – and unlike many of the players who were drafted around him in the first round is still healthy. Fantasy managers can at least take solace in that.

Missed Opportunities

  • Dropped a pass that hit him in the hands on a pivot route against a linebacker on 3rd-and-4 in the first quarter with a lot of space in front of him.

 

Tyler Allgeier: 9 Carries, 53 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 12 Yards

There are several NFL teams that would put Allgeier as their feature running back, but instead he works as a spell back for Bijan. He serves the role well though, attacking defenses in a more head-on, smash mouth style then his backfield mate. He’s a solid depth piece, a top-end handcuff back and would immediately vault to relevance if Bijan were ever to miss time.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Drake London: 7 Targets, 6 Receptions, 54 Yards, TD

London was underutilized in the first half and then had a couple of play drawn up for him in the third quarter. Built like an alpha wide receiver and with the skills and ability to match, it took the Falcons until the final seconds of the fourth quarter to figure it out and get him the ball. He made Darius Slay look lost on his touchdown route, creating an entire kilometer of separation for an easy catch and score to save his fantasy night – and his team.

 

Kyle Pitts: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 20 Yards 

Whatever Pitts did to upset Arthur Smith, he must’ve also done to the current coaching staff as well because he’s still not getting the usage that fantasy managers have been clamoring for since his breakout rookie campaign. Pitts was looked to just four times, adding him to the list of disappointing tight ends to begin the season.

 

Darnell Mooney: 7 Targets, 3 Receptions, 88 Yards, TD

Mooney made his mark with a 41-yard catch and run for a touchdown, beating CJ Gardner-Johnson on a post route and breaking a tackle for the score. On the field for a ton of snaps, it felt as if Mooney was getting unlucky throughout most of the first half – slipping out of his route or getting missed on walk-in touchdowns – but it was clear he was a big part of the offensive gameplan.

Missed Opportunities

  • From inside the five-yard line, Mooney was lined up in the backfield and matched up on a linebacker for a goal line target but was missed badly as Cousins saw pressure in his face.

 

Ray Ray McCloud: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 42 Yards

McCloud was on the field for nearly every snap as the Falcons rolled out 11-personnel on nearly every offensive play. He managed more targets than Pitts, but seems well behind Mooney in the wide receiver pecking order.

Missed Opportunities

  • McCloud beat the defense on the final play of the first quarter for what could have been a 73-yard touchdown, but Cousins never made it far enough through his progression to see that the speedster had a few steps on the defense.

 

Philadelphia Eagles

 

Quarterback

 

Jalen Hurts: 23/30, 183 Yards, TD, INT | 13 Carries, 85 Yards, TD

Hurts’ rushing game is so much more than just the tush push. He put his dual-threat abilities on full display Monday night, scampering on several designed runs as well as scrambles to extend plays and make things happen on his own. He was also remarkably accurate, finding his receivers on 80% of his throws. Fantasy managers will continue to be pleased with their decision to pay up for one of the best fantasy quarterbacks in the game. His only mistake was a costly one though, as he chucked up a desperation ball with a defender in his face on his final offensive snap and it was caught by a Falcon nowhere near his receivers.

 

Running Back

 

Saquon Barkley: 22 Carries, 95 Yards | 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 21 Yards

Saquon looked as elusive and shifty as I have ever seen him, and his offensive line was paving the way for him. Of course, he got tackled at the half-yard line, originally called a touchdown on the field but then reversed on review and his score was vultured by the infamous tush push. Even though he didn’t find the end zone, Barkley was a force to be reckoned with, churning away for several yards after contact on each snap. Barkley dropped the game-sealing pass that would’ve given the Eagles at least a first down, perhaps a game-sealing touchdown with 1:40 to play allowing the Falcons to come back and win.

 

Kenneth Gainwell: 2 Carries, 6 Yards

Once upon a time, Gainwell had carved out a nice little role in this offense. Now with Barkley as the RB1, it looks like Gainwell won’t be getting much love. We’ll see if load management comes into play for Barkley later in the year but for now there’s not much left for Gainwell.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

AJ Brown: DNP – Injury

The Eagles’ most explosive pass-catcher sat this one out with a hamstring injury. He’s expected to miss multiple weeks, creating opportunity for other Eagles to shine.

 

DeVonta Smith:  9 Targets, 7 Receptions, 76 Yards, TD

Smith put on a clinic on Monday Night Football, getting open consistently while working against Falcons’ top cornerback AJ Terrell on a majority of plays. Most of the time, it didn’t matter who was guarding Smith because he found a way to get open regardless.

Smith had a second touchdown in his hands but Falcons’ defensive back Jesse Bates made a great play to punch it out before he secured it.

 

Britain Covey: 6 Targets, 6 Receptions, 23 Yards

Covey was much more involved in the offense than Dotson while Brown was on the shelf. He was even schemed into a couple of red zone looks and showed a connection with Hurts that Dotson clearly just hasn’t yet forged. The Eagles set up a pair of screen passes from inside the 10-yard line for Covey on two separate drives, but he wasn’t able to make his man miss in order to find the paint on either attempt.

 

Jahan Dotson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 6 Yards

Immediately thrust into a more prominent role without AJ Brown in the lineup, and was more effective than Week 1 because he actually caught a pass (insert the “They had us in the first half…” meme). Another week to get acquainted with the playbook and personnel didn’t do Dotson any favors as he was out-targeted by kick returner Britain Covey.

 

Johnny Wilson: 1 Target, 0 Receptions

Wilson was targeted by Hurts in the end zone in the first quarter and instead of tracking back to his quarterback, ran parallel to the line of scrimmage and was undercut by a defender.

 

Dallas Goedert: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 38 Yards

Grant Calcaterra: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 19 Yards

The tight end duo was mostly irrelevant, which is expected from backup Calcaterra but extremely unfortunate for Goedert, whom many believed would have a solid game with AJ Brown missing. Goedert did pull in a couple clutch catches on the Eagles’ final drives but by then it was too late to feel good about his performance.

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