National Football League

Eagles struck early, often

Published Oct. 20, 2010 10:17 a.m. ET

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FLOWERY BRANCH --- The Falcons must have been reading all of Andy Reid's quotes last week after the Philadelphia coach termed them the best team in the NFC.

On Sunday, they didn't come out ready to play and fell behind quickly. And though they made a mini-run, the Falcons could never wrestle the momentum back from the blitz-happy Eagles.

Falcons coach Mike Smith was not pleased with any phase of the game and was particularly upset with the rash of big plays allowed and porous pass blocking.

"We had too much pressure, to put it very frankly," Smith said. "We've got to protect our quarterback better. There were three sacks given up and too many pressures."

Here's a rewind look at five key plays from the game:

Start off in reverse

First down, 10 yards to go, Eagles' ball on Atlanta's 31 with 12:18 left in the first quarter.

Formation: 4-3 base defense.

Play: The Eagles faked a dive to the right side and wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who was lined up to the right, took the ball on an end-around at full speed to the left side. He got to the second level before the Falcons figured out he had the ball and by then, it was too late. He was in high gear. Middle linebacker Curtis Lofton scrambled out to make an attempt around the 20, but Jackson made a nice move inside. Safety Thomas DeCoud had an angle, but Jackson's move inside was fluid and he made it without slowing down.

Result: Jackson scored on 31-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.

Falcons coach Mike Smith: "It wasn't a good start to the ball game, defensively, when the second play of the game, they run the ball for a touchdown on a reverse."

Jackson again

First down, 10 yards to go, Eagles' ball on Atlanta's 34 with 6:57 left in the first quarter.

Formation: 4-3 base defense.

Play: The Falcons dropped into a Cover Two zone. Jackson steamed up the right seam of the zone and no one picked up his route. He blew past the linebacker level and broke open in front of the safeties. Quarterback Kevin Kolb found him in the end zone.

Result: The touchdown gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead barely eight minutes into the game.

The collision

Third down, 6 yards to go, Eagles' ball on Atlanta's 32 with 14:21 left in the second quarter.

Formation: 4-3 base defense.

Play: The Falcons dropped into a Cover Two zone and rushed four players. Jonathan Babineaux and Kroy Biermann flushed Kolb out to his left and his short pass fluttered out as he was hit. Jackson was trying to catch the ball while Dunta Robinson came storming in from the boundary to break up the play and prevent a first down. He appeared to crash into Jackson shoulder first, but his helmet ended up under Jackson's chin and helmet. Both players sprawled out on the field with concussions.

Results: Robinson was called for a personal foul. The Eagles earned a first-and-10 at the 17-yard line but missed a field goal four plays later.

Smith: "It's a very complicated rule. It's not just head-to-head contact. It's contact with the shoulder pads or the arm, any part of the body with the helmet or the neck area. A defenseless player, the definition I'm not 100 percent exactly with, how they want to say that a guy is defenseless. Again, it was a bang-bang play in the ball game and I am glad that both of those guys are going to be all right."

Tip drill

First down, 10 yards to go, Eagles' ball on Atlanta's 37 with 1:04 left in the second quarter.

Formation: 4-3 base defense.

Play: The Eagles had worked the seam of the Falcons zone on Jackson's second touchdown. This time, they went back to the right seam, but Kolb's pass, intended for Brent Celek, was tipped up in the air by middle linebacker Curtis Lofton. Nickel back Brian Williams then tipped it again before safety William Moore gathered it in for an interception. He headed for the right sideline and ended up with a 34-yard return.

Result: The Falcons got their 11th interception of the season and converted it into a touchdown to make it 21-7 at halftime.

Moore: "We practice that tip drill every Friday. I saw Curtis tip it and saw it was going toward Brian. I knew he would tip it, too, so I went to go get it. We were just trying to get the momentum back on the other side."

The bomb

Second down, 13 yards to go, Eagles' ball on Philadelphia's 17 with 6:23 to go in the third quarter.

Formation: 4-3 base defense.

Play: The Eagles went back to their fake-dive reverse play that produced their first touchdown. Only this time, they faked both the drive and the reverse. The Falcons flinched again and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin ran past safety DeCoud down the left sideline. Kolb launched the pass from the 10-yard line and hit Maclin in stride at Atlanta's 42. DeCoud was two yards behind the speedy Maclin and couldn't make up the distance.

Result: An 83-yard touchdown put the Eagles up 28-10.

DeCoud: "I read my key on the play and that was to read the No. 1 [receiver] and I was going over the top of him. Then I heard the rest of the team yelling 'Reverse.' I looked back and he took off. It was just one of those things where I have to be more disciplined in my half. I'll take the blame on that one."

Next for Falcons

Who: vs. Bengals

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

TV; radio: CBS; 92.9 FM

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