PHILADELPHIA – The Falcons were 99 seconds from a barrage of questions, fury and heat when the $180 million quarterback made his full introduction to Atlanta.
The Falcons were staring an 0-2 record in the face with the two-time defending Super Bowl champions coming to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday. But, after a quite forgettable season opener and then 58 minutes of a Monday night game that looked like all he would do was help his team score a meager 15 points, Kirk Cousins delivered to Falcons fans and a national audience a presentation on why the Falcons were willing to sign him and his surgically repaired Achilles tendon a four-year contract with $100 million guaranteed.
Cousins delivered a game-winning 70-yard touchdown drive in the final 1:39 with no timeouts remaining, completing five of six passes for all 70 yards, including a 5-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Drake London with 34 seconds remaining.
Falcons 22, Eagles 21.
“Just execution on all levels,” London said of the feel of the final drive. “We were able to go out there and execute the plan and nobody blinked on offense.”
To that point, the Falcons had been nothing special on offense. They had run the ball effectively with running back Bijan Robinson (97 yards on 14 carries) but had generated 15 points in seven drives, a supremely average rate.
They twice settled for field goals on red-zone possessions. With the game on the line earlier in the fourth quarter – they took possession of the ball on their 30 with 6:47 to play down 18-15 – the Falcons failed to gain a first down.
London ran a route too short on third down and then Robinson was stuffed on fourth-and-1 to give the ball back to the Eagles.
If Philadelphia could run out the final 5:38 – or score a touchdown on a drive starting on the Falcons’ 39 – the game would be over. The Falcons would be 0-2 and everyone from coach Raheem Morris to Cousins to offensive coordinator Zac Robinson to owner Arthur Blank would be passed around for criticism, ridicule and then another round of criticism.
Blank himself watched from the sideline as his defense tried to hold off the Eagles, ultimately holding them to a field goal. An incomplete third-and-3 pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts to running back Saquon Barkley helped the cause, stopping the clock at 1:42.
Speaking of criticism and ridicule.
“That gives you a little bit of extra time,” Morris said. “The whole key was to get off the grass.”
A touchback gave the Falcons the ball on their 30. Cousins took it from there. He completed passes to three different targets – tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Darnell Mooney twice and London twice – and ran the operation so efficiently that he left a little more time on the clock (34 seconds) than perhaps the Falcons might have liked.
On the sideline, where only minutes before he had been watching the game with arms crossed, Blank raised his arms in triumph.
“It was just very smooth,” left tackle Jake Matthews said. “(Cousins) just executed and we did everything that we’d been preparing to and just did it really well. Kirk did an amazing job. The line held up and guys got open and it just went the way you drew it up.”
This wasn’t only Cousins’ moment to shine. Zac Robinson, who had been heavily critiqued for his game plan against the Steelers in the season opener in his first-ever game as a play-caller, got a verbal pat on the back from his coach.
While Morris mentioned wanting touchdowns on the red-zone drives that yielded only field goals, “he went out there and scored when it was the most important time,” he said of Robinson. “He was at his best when his best was required.”
It left a sellout crowd in towering Lincoln Financial Stadium stunned. The Falcons took the lead three different times in the game before the game-winning drive, but it felt like it all along that it was the Eagles’ game to lose.
Which it turned out to be.
“This is my first Monday night football,” London said. “Shoot, I can’t remember a comeback win like this in a minute. And to be a part of it like that was something special. So that’s really cool.”
In his postgame news conference, Morris was doused with water and he held a game ball in his left arm, a memento he couldn’t deny was important. But he still had his eyes on the bigger picture.
This was not an example of a quarterback showing his mettle and proving his elite quality, Morris said.
“Those moments come in the playoffs,” Morris said. “We’re a long way from that.”
There was another chance to revel in the moment that he passed on.
“I didn’t come here to beat the Philadelphia Eagles,” he said. “I was brought here to go out here and try to put ourselves in position to win championships and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The coach is right about that. With the Kansas City Chiefs on the schedule for Sunday night followed by NFC South games against two teams that have started impressively, New Orleans and Tampa Bay (both 2-0). Monday’s “that was a defining win” could turn into “the Eagles gave the game away” if Morris’ team can’t build on the win.
But they’re a lot closer to those championship ambitions than they appeared to be with 99 seconds left in the game.
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