NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
Eagles make stand; Patriots roll on
Philadelphia stops Falcons in final minute, 15-0; Titans no match for New England
Philadelphia cornerback Jalen Mills – his team clinging to a five-point lead – couldn’t hear a noise, even though the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field was loud as a jet engine.
“Can’t hear the crowd, but you can feel them,” Mills would say later. “You can feel that energy. The ground felt like it was shaking out there, it was so loud. When they broke the huddle and I saw [Jones] come to my side, I said, ‘I know where the ball’s coming.’
“As a true competitor, you love that. You live and die for that.”
The Philadelphia Eagles lived, as Jones slipped in the end zone, climbed to his feet, then – with Mills in close coverage – was unable to reel in a high pass from Matt Ryan. The Eagles got the ball back, and gleefully ran out the clock.
Questioned, doubted, written off without injured quarterback Carson Wentz, the Eagles survived a huge test Saturday, breaking up a point-blank, fourth-down pass for Jones with 58 seconds left to hold off the Falcons, 15-10, and advance to the NFC championship game.
“It just didn’t work out, and that’s disappointing,” said Ryan, on a sprint-out to the right on the play. “That’s the life that you kind of live as a competitor when you get in those situations. You want the ball in your hand. We’re disappointed that we didn’t make the play, but I thought it was a good call. It felt like we had the right players in mind, and the right time.”
The Eagles will play host to the winner of today’s game in Minneapolis between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings.
Philadelphia was the first No. 1 seed to be an underdog to a No. 6 in the divisional round. Eagles Lane Johnson and Chris Long even bought rubber, menacing German Shepard masks on Amazon that they stashed on the sideline and pulled on after the game.
Like those masks, the game wasn’t a thing of beauty for the Eagles, but the outcome was. They’re happy with winning ugly, even if it means weathering four fumbles in the first 1½ quarters – one was a muffed punt – and inching away with three field goals by Jake Elliott (who earlier clanked an extra point off an upright).
“At the end of the day, it was a team win,” said defensive end Long, who won a Super Bowl with New England last season by beating these Falcons. “It was gritty. It was ugly at times. But when the offense had to get points, they got points. Defense, we kept getting stops. Offensively, we were able to run the ball, and we were able to possess the ball. That was huge.”
The Eagles were able to play keep-away, winning the time-of-possession battle by nearly five minutes. That was especially effective on a frigid night, when they were able to grind down Atlanta’s defense while leaving Ryan & Co. shivering on the sideline.
Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles, who looked like a massive liability in place of Wentz, accounted for himself well. He finished 23 of 30 for 246 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions but an impressive passer rating of 100.1.
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