Late in their "Monday Night Football" matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, it looked like the Atlanta Falcons were dead in the water. After allowing a 17-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to Philly that allowed the Eagles to stake themselves to a three-point lead, Atlanta turned the ball over on downs, getting stuffed on fourth-and-1. Worse yet, the Falcons allowed the Eagles to march deep into their own territory -- even after facing a second-and-18 at Atlanta's 47-yard-line.
But on a third down inside the 10, Saquon Barkley dropped a pass in the flat. Then, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni chose to kick a field goal to put his team up by six points, rather than go for it on fourth-and-3 and try to put the game away. And that's when Kirk Cousins and Co. went to work with 1:39 left in the game.
Cousins led the Falcons on a six-play, 70-yard drive across just one minute and five seconds of game time, completing 5 of 6 passes along the way -- including what ended up being the game winner to Drake London with 34 seconds remaining in a thrilling 22-21 upset.
The entire game-winning drive from Kirk Cousins and the @AtlantaFalcons. #ATLvsPHI pic.twitter.com/7ms5Esas7b
— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024
After a dispiriting Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Falcons were in serious danger of falling to 0-2, with a game against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs next on the docket. Instead, they've evened their record at 1-1 and have three consecutive home games up next.
"Yeah, you know, it's so important to find ways to win, and that's how you put together a great season," Cousins said postgame. "When you have these games that could go either way, you find a way to have it break your way. That's the way this league is and so when we can find those inches, it can really change the tale of the season. So, we're going to have more of those up ahead, and we're going to have to, as a team, find ways to make the plays to get it done."
Although much of it came on the final drive, Atlanta's offense did show some improvement in Week 2, going from gaining just 226 total yards to 385, from 15 first downs to 22 and from turning it over three times to not doing so at all. They'll need to carry that improvement forward through the rest of the season to avoid the fate it looked like they were headed for late on Monday night, but getting back in the win column for the first time in the Raheem Morris era is a good first step.