Eagles-Falcons Final Score: Highlights from Philadelphia’s playoff win over Atlanta, 15-10

The Philadelphia Eagles DEFEATED the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field by a final score of 15 to 10. Read on for a recap and higlightss from the game. Up next for Philadelphia is the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! (Click here to watch the BGN Radio postgame show if you can’t see the video below.)

FIRST QUARTER

Falcons win the coin toss and elect to defer. Eagles offense up first.

First play: play-action fake to Jay Ajayi, deep shot to Torrey Smith. The ugly pass from Nick Foles got lost in the wind but Smith drew pass interference on the play. Smith’s good at that. Nice job for the Eagles to be aggressive.

Then Ajayi fumbled on his first carry of the game. Welp. Forced out by Deion Jones. That’s Ajayi’s third fumble in 71 carries with Philly.

Falcons take over and get into 3rd-and-5 from their own 45-yard line. Matt Ryan scrambles and hits an open Mohamed Sanu for a first down. Atlanta methodically drives into the red zone. 3rd-and-8 from the 15-yard line. Ryan’s pass is incomplete and the Falcons settle for a 33-yard field goal. FALCONS LEAD, 3-0.

Eagles go right back to Ajayi, who runs for no gain. Foles overthrows a wide open Zach Ertz in the flat. Bad. Then Foles targets Mack Hollins on 3rd-and-10. The pass is wide but Hollins draws pass interference for a first down. Generous flag, but the Eagles will take it. Ajayi moves the chains with a few nice runs, but then LeGarrette Blount mishandles a handoff to put the Eagles in 2nd-and-17. A Foles completion to Ertz brings up 3rd-and-7. Foles holds on to the ball too long and gets sacked to move the Eagles out of field goal range. Foles is playing scared. Eagles have to punt.

Falcons get to 3rd-and-4 from the Eagles’ 47. A Devonta Freeman run sets up 4th-and-2 and Dan Quinn opts to go for it. Delay of game penalty forces Atlanta to punt, however. Trey Burton came so close to blocking it.

Ajayi runs for a first down. Then he breaks some tackles on an 8-yard gain. Then a 7-yard run. Then he catches a screen pass for nine yards to end the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

Blount plows forward on 2nd-and-1 to pick up a nice gain. Foles completes back-to-back short passes to Smith and Corey Clement to pick up another first. Good to see. Falcons take a timeout to stop his rhythm. Foles scrambles and throws to Brent Celek to set up 3rd-and-3. Nice job by Foles to step up there. Eagles get a little tricky and give a handoff to Nelson Agholor, who runs down to the 3-yard line. Very nice fake toss play-call there from Doug Pederson.

Foles’ first down pass is tipped by a defensive lineman and incomplete. Ugly. Blount runs for a yard to set up 3rd-and-goal from the 2. Handoff from Foles to Clement is botched but Foles recovers it and rolls into the end zone for a touchdown. The play is reviewed and Foles is correctly called down at the 1-yard line. Pederson goes for it and Blount runs it in for the touchdown. Awesome blocking from Burton (at fullback) and the o-line. Great job by Pederson on that entire drive. Unfortunately, Jake Elliott misses the PAT as it bounces off the upright. EAGLES LEAD, 6-3.

Eagles tackle Freeman for no gain on first down. But then the Eagles give up a big completion after Ronald Darby whiffs on a tackle attempt on Sanu. Ryan airs it out deep and Jalen Mills has a chance to pick a ball that hangs in the air, but Julio Jones helps to break it up. Darby redeems himself with a great tackle for loss on a screen play. On 3rd-and-14, Jenkins tackles Jones short of the sticks to force a punt. Good stop, D. But then special teams effs it up. Due to wind, the punt falls short and bounces off the heel of Rasul Douglas. Just bad luck. Falcons recover at the Eagles’ 18-yard line. Ugh. Rodney McLeod gets flagged for a BS illegal hit where he didn’t do anything wrong. Led with his shoulder.

Then the Eagles get flagged for defensive holding. Legit call on Mills. Philly’s defense forces Atlanta into 3rd-and-goal from the 6. Ryan dumps off to Freeman as he’s getting tackled and it’s a Falcons touchdown. FALCONS LEAD, 10-6.

Blount runs for a 4-yard loss. Why isn’t Ajayi in? Foles completes a pass to Clement to set up 3rd-and-3. And then another one for a first down. Blount gets another carry, this one for a 1-yard loss. Again, where’s Ajayi? On 3rd-and-5, Foles has Burton wide open on a corner route. Ball is overthrown. Would’ve put the Eagles into field goal range at least. Instead, punt.

Vinny Curry loses contain on the edge and the Falcons run for a 22-yard gain to bring up the 2-minute warning. Eagles force the Falcons into 3rd-and-13 at the 50. A screen to Freeman goes for no gain. Falcons have to punt. Braman gets called for roughing the kicker despite getting a piece of the ball. One of the refs even signaled a tip. The refs review it and do away with the flag.

Eagles pick up some yards on a screen but then take too long to get back to the line. Instead of calling a timeout, they get flagged for a false start, and then have to burn the timeout to avoid a 10-second runoff. Cool. Foles airs it out over the middle of the field and a Falcons defender has a shot at an easy pick. But the ball bounces off him and into the hands of Torrey Smith for a 20-yard gain. Lol. The Immaculate Reception! Foles then hits Alshon Jeffery (first target of the game) who manages to get out of bounds with one second left in the first half. Elliott tries a field goal from 53 yards out and ... IT’S GOOD! Are you even surprised? Elliott misses the easy ones but makes the difficult ones. By the way, that’s now the longest field goal in Eagles postseason history. FALCONS LEAD, 10-9.

THIRD QUARTER

Falcons start with the ball. Atlanta gets to 3rd-and-6 from their own 24. Ryan rolls out and tries to throw to a wide open Justin Hardy but Mills tips it away. Really clutch deflection. Could’ve been a touchdown otherwise.

Ajayi back in the game as the Eagles take over. He immediately runs for a 2-yard loss. Foles completes a pass over the middle to Agholor, who gets facemasked as he’s tackled. No call. Also Keanu Neal led with his helmet to put a hit on Agholor. That would’ve been a flag on McLeod. Ajayi runs to set up 4th-and-2. Pederson punts.

Eagles defense gets gashed again on another Tevin Coleman run to the outside. But then they notch a tackle for loss as the Falcons go right back to it. Mychal Kendricks drops a pick to bring up 3rd-and-11. Ryan completes a pass to Jones for a first. Pass rush not exactly showing up right now. Falcons get to 3rd-and-5 from the Eagles’ 44-yard line. Nigel Bradham sacks Ryan on a blitz to force a punt. Needed that.

Foles hits Jeffery for a first down. And then another! Who would’ve known good things could’ve happened by getting No. 17 involved. Eagles get into 3rd-and-8 from their own 36. Foles completes ANOTHER pass to Jeffery for ANOTHER first. Then he hits Ertz for a first. Then he hits Smith for a first at the 19-yard line. Red zone territory. Eagles have nothing going on first and second and then Ajayi drops a pass on third down. Elliott makes the 37-yard field goal to take the lead with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter. EAGLES LEAD, 12-10.

Elliott’s kickoff goes out of bounds so the Falcons start at their 35-yard line. McLeod sacks Ryan for a 10-yard loss on first down. Big play to end the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

Jones drops a pass near the sideline to bring up 3rd-and-20. Falcons gain 13 yards on a checkdown and then have to punt.

Foles’ first down throw for Smith sails high down the field. A screen to Ajayi brings up 3rd-and-7. Then another screen to Ajayi goes for a 32-yard gain. Great call by Pederson to go right back to it. Also a great block by Stefen Wisniewski to take out two guys on that play.

On 3rd-and-8, Foles hits Ertz over the middle. The guy covering Ertz fell down. Eagles run another tricky play to Agholor — this time a shovel pass with him coming in motion — for another first. A throw to Hollins sets up 2-and-1 at the 15-yard line, but then Agholor gets tackled for a loss on a run attempt. Blount pounds it up the middle for a conversion. Blount runs it seven yards to set up 2nd-and-3 from the 5. Blount runs for no gain to set up 3rd-and-3. Foles throws a 2-yard completion to bring up 4th-and-1. Eagles keep the offense out to go for it ... but then call a timeout and kick the field goal. Tough decision. I would’ve liked to see aggression there with the offensive line playing well and Elliott not being automatic from short. But Elliott makes this one. EAGLES LEAD, 15-10.

Falcons get a first down on a Ryan completion to Jones. Then Graham tackles Freeman for a 5-yard loss. He has one of those plays every week. Falcons take their first timeout of the second half. Crowd at the Linc is SUPER loud and fired up. Falcons complete a pass to bring up 3rd-and-6 from their own 42. Sanu makes a tough catch with Darby covering him. Or not! Pederson challenges the call and it’s overturned. Wow. Falcons going for it on fourth down. And it’s complete to Jones for a 20-yard gain with Malcolm Jenkins trailing. Womp. Falcons drive to the Eagles’ 26-yard line. 2-minute warning. Falcons move into the red zone with the clock ticking. Falcons get to 1st-and-goal at the 9 with 1:19 left. Eagles take their second timeout. Ryan’s first down pass is incomplete and brings up 2nd-and-goal. Ryan’s second down pass is incomplete to bring up 3rd-and-goal. Ryan completes a pass to put the Falcons at 4th-and-2. It looked like the ball moved so the refs reviewed it but the ruling on the field stood. Ryan throws it up to Jones ... and it’s INCOMPLETE! Mills was right in front of him to force the pass high!

Eagles take over on downs at the 2-yard. Falcons gets called for encroachment to set up 1st-and-5 at the 7-yard line. Clement rushes for a first down. That’s game, folks!

FINAL SCORE

Eagles beat the Falcons, 15-10.

THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES ARE GOING TO THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, BABY!

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Stay tuned for much more Eagles-Falcons postgame coverage (click here).