Atlanta Falcons have never started 0-2 behind Matt Ryan
In what was a must-win game early in the season for the Atlanta Falcons, they do just that as they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-20 at Mercedes Benz Stadium. It was not pretty, but the Falcons had some incredible moments on both sides of the ball.
One of the best defensive efforts by a Dan Quinn coached Atlanta Falcons defense since he took over as head coach in 2015. This is what we expected to see from the 2019 version of the Falcons and a great performance they can build off of moving forward.
Six times since the Atlanta Falcons drafted Matt Ryan, they had started the season 0-1 and in all six seasons, they have beaten their week two opponent.
Takk McKinley and Vic Beasley got a lot of pressure tonight on Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who at the time looked like Houdini escaping the grasp of Falcons defenders.
Grady Jarrett, Tyeler Davison, and Allen Bailey looked to be as formidable a defensive line as we will find in the National Football League. We cannot state enough how great it is to have Deion Jones back in the middle of the Falcons defense.
After Desmond Trufant failed to log an interception in 2018, he had two tonight in the first half, leading to points of the Falcons offense. Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen were laying out Eagles receivers all night. At one point, all three Eagles starting receivers were in concussion protocol, only Nelson Angular would return.
Matt Ryan was equal parts brilliant and infuriating tonight. Made some incredible throws, like the game-winning throw to Julio Jones and also had three interceptions that made you question where his head was tonight. The three interceptions thrown by Matt tonight was his first three-interception game since December of 2017 against the Saints.
Related Story. Early season history is on the Atlanta Falcons side. light
There was a lot of good and bad to take from this game that we can dissect over the next week, but it is always great to do so after a win than a loss. Falcons improve to 1-1 and have another chance to get better with the Colts waiting next Sunday.