Best Memes of Sam Bradford & the Philadelphia Eagles

In his first game as Falcons head coach, Dan Quinn clearly had his team fired up and ready to play. That was obvious from the several thousand Eagles fans who made the trip, making the Georgia Dome loud and boisterous well before the game started. For Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, it was another chance to prove that his up-tempo philosophy works.

That’s exactly the kind of spot in which Kelly was known for pushing the envelope in college, but in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer before his first season with the Eagles, Kelly said that his choices to go for it weren’t actually choices, but necessity. “He’s hit those before”.

“Perfect snap. ideal hold every time”, he said. My fault. There’s no rhyme or reason to missing.

There was still plenty of time when the Eagles got the ball back, but those hopes faded when Matthews couldn’t hang on to Bradford’s final pass, the ball deflecting into Allen’s arms with 1:11 left. That was short-lived, however, as the Falcons would get the edge back on a 47-yard Bryant field goal. “I wish I could tell you more, there’s nothing new”, he said. Down two points, with just under three minutes to play and a fourth down with inches to go at the Falcons’ 26-yard line (and with all three timeouts remaining), Kelly went for a 44-yard field goal, which kicker Cody Parkey missed.

He finished the game 36-for-52 with 336 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Now, did the Falcons smother it so much to force Kelly to veer sharply away from it, despite all the talent he collected in DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, despite clearly stating his preference for a certain type of running when he traded LeSean McCoy? Two plays later, Murray, who rushed for just nine yards on eight carries, rolled around the right side to cut the gap to 20-10.

Down 26-24 with 1:48 left in the game and after a Darren Sproles 10 yard punt return, the Eagles took over at the PHI 14 yard line. “I was watching the play clock and where we were watching our guys get set”. The quarterback has reportedly suffered his first setback, after spraining his ankle on Monday night against the Atlanta Falcons, per Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News (via Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ Advance Media).

Ryan shook off a pair of interceptions, together with one on the primary possession of the second half that turned the momentum in Philadelphia’s favor.

When the Philadelphia Eagles look at film of their season-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, they will probably kick themselves because this was a game they should have won. Yes, just okay. Ryan was sacked just once, and for the most part had time to throw. After an incomplete pass, Murray took off around right end for Philadelphia’s first touchdown of the season.

Big play 2: On second-and-4 from the Eagles’ 24, Coleman broke loose for punishing 16-yard run to the 8. Playing his first regular-season game in 23 months, he looked rusty in the first half against the Falcons.

To be fair, though, even after its electrifying debut against Washington on the first Monday night of 2013, Kelly’s Eagles still needed half the season to settle into its groove. Mathews took it in from there, giving Philadelphia its first lead, 24-23.

“The second half was a blast”, Bradford said. He hauled in eight passes for 97 yards over the primary two quarters, together with touchdowns of four and 22 yards.