PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — Saquon Barkley stood next to his Eagles locker on Monday night and took the blame for Philadelphia’s 22-21 defeat to the Atlanta Falcons in their home opener. The Birds’ running back had at least a game-winning first down, maybe even a touchdown, in his sights. Instead, he botched a pass reception and was unable to hold onto a short pass from Jalen Hurts.
Barkley’s huge third-down drop at Atlanta’s 10-yard line with 1:46 left in the game stopped the clock and caused Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni to opt for a field goal.
“I dropped the ball,” Barkley said simply. “I let my team down today. I shouldn’t have put the defense in that position. If I catch the ball, the game is over.”
Barkley’s blunder was the opportunity the Falcons needed to pull off a flawless drive that the Eagles couldn’t duplicate. Kirk Cousins capped off the winning drive with a Touchdown pass to Drake London.
Barkley and Hurts, who had given the Eagles an 18-15 lead with a 1-yard tush-push touchdown in the fourth inning, talked briefly in the locker room after the game.
The message was simple: Hurts continued to support Barkley.
“He will always trust me in this situation,” Barkley said.
After Barkley’s drop, Jake Elliott kicked a 28-yard field goal instead of the Eagles trying to score on fourth down.
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Sirianni’s decision to kick the field goal reduced the Eagles’ probability of winning from 94% to 85%.
“We wanted to be up six points. That didn’t work,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I wanted them to come back and score a touchdown and see if they could take the field. And they did.”
With a Three-year contract worth $26 million guaranteedBarkley is the highest-paid running back in franchise history. The 27-year-old former New York Giant had a knack for dropping the ball while playing for the NFC East rival.
“I trust him to do something every day of the week,” Hurts said. “Just like everyone else. That’s going to make us better.”
Maybe next time the Eagles will trust Barkley enough to just run it first – Barkley averaged 4.32 yards per run on Monday.
Even after London overpowered cornerback Darius Slay and scored, the Eagles still had 34 seconds to at least get into field goal territory for Elliott. Hurts’ pass was instead intercepted by Jessie Bates III, ending any hopes of Philadelphia’s own amazing comeback.
“The intention on that play was to go down the field,” Sirianni said. “He took his chance and the guy made a good play.”
Much like Barkley, Slay had to take the blame for the loss after being beaten by London on the game-winning touchdown.
“This is on me Philly!! I owe y’all. DAMN!!!!!” Slay wrote on social media.
A year after their 10-1 start, the Eagles are already 1-1 and have games against the undefeated teams New Orleans and Tampa Bay.
Barkley ran 95 yards in his home debut a week after a week after he ran 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the game’s opening drive ended without Barkley touching the ball. Led by Hollywood star Bradley Cooper, Eagles fans went into an uproar when he made two consecutive 9-yard runs early in the second drive.
Barkley’s steady success was not to last.
The defense was unable to stop the long play against Cousins and defended for the entire 60 minutes.
Under new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the Eagles have developed an early knack for allowing long drives that end in three points instead of seven. Atlanta’s Younghoe Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last of which was enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opening game, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they advanced inside the 20 yards.
Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract in the offseason, came to life in the second half. Cousins completed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Darnell Mooney that gave Atlanta a 15-10 lead. Cousins later threw to Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on back-to-back plays during the decisive drive.
“We can get beat, especially if we don’t take advantage of our opportunities,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said.
With recipient no. 1 AJ Brown is out due to a thigh injuryDeVonta Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score. Sirianni said he wasn’t sure how long Brown would be out.
“Obviously, he’s definitely missing,” Hurts said. “That doesn’t change my confidence in everybody else. We just didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. It wasn’t for us tonight.”
