Adrian Fedkiw
Matty Ice met his defrosters on Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Mathews carried the ball 19 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns and the Philadelphia Eagles held the NFL’s No. 1 offense to 15 points en route to a 24-15 win over the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles ran for 208 yards in all, held a commanding 38:10-21:50 lead in time of possession and kept the potent Falcons offense off the field. Mathews averaged 5.7 yards per carry.
Mathews 19 carries for 109 yards and two TDs. Eagles dominated time of possession 38:10-21:50, kept Atlanta's potent offense off field pic.twitter.com/HetM2CDdOy
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
So much for Darren Sproles being the No. 1 back. Here’s what head coach Doug Pederson said about the Eagles’ running back situation earlier in the week.
“Right now, by stats, yeah, and what you’re seeing, I would say Darren is the No. 1 back right now. Ryan is still a big part, you saw the touchdown run he had yesterday, and Kenjon had a nice run, Wendell had a nice run, so it’s still a little bit of the running back by committee. Obviously we haven’t hung our hat on one guy, but we tend to lean a little more towards Darren Sproles,” he said.
Wendell Smallwood toted the rock 13 times for 70 yards and Sproles saw just just two handoffs for 19 yards, but caught eight passes for 57 yards. The Eagles used him a lot on the option route on third down.
Eagles have been loving that option route to Sproles today @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/jI6uxlO433
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Ryan and Julio Jones led a Falcons offense averaging 34 points per game coming in. Ryan still threw for 267 yards with a touchdown and interception on 18-of-33 passing and Jones still hauled in 10 receptions for 135 yards, but the Eagles surrendered just one touchdown.
Nothing you can do about this @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/edj3r5WvgT
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Nothing you can do to stop that.
Pederson mixed and matched his running backs well and called an OK game, but I still came away a bit perturbed about some things, especially his decision to run the ball laterally on a 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Eagles had been gashing the Falcons’ defense up the middle all afternoon. This has been a trend all season, running the ball way too much along the boundaries in short-yardage situations.
You run the ball effectively up the middle all day, yet you go laterally on 3rd and goal from the 1. I DON'T GET IT!! @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/VYOvU2zlGY
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz did a stout job of mixing up defensive line combinations and blitzes to pressure Matty Ice.
Cox with the initial pressure and Graham gets the sack @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/YRu1rXRd9t
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Carson Wentz was 25-of-36 for 231 yards and Jordan Matthews had caught six ball for 73 yards for the Eagles, who improved to 4-0 at home and 5-4 on the season. Wentz’s accuracy has wavered over recent weeks, but his throws were precise and he put on the proper shoulder for the most part.
Matthews doing work so far and Wentz's throw have been precise @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/jGXeZTAgNu
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
The Falcons took their first lead with 13:15 left when Ryan hit a wide open Taylor Gabriel deep along the right sideline to make it a 15-13 game, but the Eagles went back in front two drives later. Mathews finished off the eight-play, 76-yard march when he plunged in from five yards out off of right tackle. He also converted the two-point conversion to make it 21-15.
Mathews puts the Eagles back in front @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/hSklgu37l8
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Jones was unable to hang onto a 3rd-and-12 throw on Atlanta’s ensuing series, doing his best impression of the Eagles’ receivers.
Jones doing what the Eagles WRs do best @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/iUK3k2hkGu
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
The Eagles then went three-and-out, punting the ball back to Atlanta with 4:04 remaining. Smallwood picked up six yards on first down and three on second, but Nelson Aghlor dropped a ball that was slightly thrown behind him on third. I didn’t agree with the play-call, the Eagles had been running the ball effectively all game going up the middle and should’ve done so again. With that being said, Agholor needs to make that play, plain and simple.
1st of all, I'm running the ball up the middle. 2nd of all, NELSON AGHOLOR SUCKS!! @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/KA9nkEwpY7
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
He doesn’t want to hear about the drops, though.
The Eagles defense came up big again when Atlanta regained possession, causing it to turn it over on downs in four plays.
Huge stop on 4th down pic.twitter.com/mbo8JjHCNx
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Caleb Sturgis put the game away with a 48-yard field goal.
ONIONS! @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/RLqecoHdcQ
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Earlier, Philadelphia traveled 81 yards in 12 plays and took 7:14 off the clock on its opening sequence. Mathews toted the rock seven times for 34 yards, including a 4-yard TD plunge to end it.
So much for Sproles being No. 1 back. Mathews 7 carries for 34 yards on Eagles' opening drive. Great blocking by OL on 12-play 7:14 drive pic.twitter.com/orhniThlea
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016
Matt Bryant booted a pair of field goals in the second quarter to pull the Falcons within 7-6 heading into the break.
Sturgis sandwiched two field goals on the Eagles’ first two series of the third quarter around an Atlanta one to up the Eagles’ advantage to 13-9.
Gabriel burned Leodis McKelvin to a crisp on his 76-yard touchdown.
McKelvin getting burnt to a crisp @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/Ofe60jhEt0
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 13, 2016