Eagles completely dominate Falcons, but lose DeSean Jackson after nasty collision
If you type “complete and utter domination” into Google right now, your search will probably yield this:
Eagles 31, Falcons 17.
The Falcons are completely petrified of the Eagles and they have been for the better part of a decade now. Philly has beaten Atlanta 62 of the last 63 times its faced the Falcons (don’t look that figure up – it’s right) and it once again dominated them on Sunday.
The score might as well been Eagles 98, Falcons 0 because the game was never close. Brian Van Gorder had no clue how to defense Marty Mornhinweg’s playing calling, while Sean McDermott’s defense completely befuddled Mike Mularkey, whose going to get Matt Ryan killed if he can’t incorporate more plays that stretch the defense. I swear Mularkey has more stop routes in his offense than L.A. has traffic at 5:00PM on a Friday evening. For once in your life, Mike, get Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez running vertical.
Of course, Ryan didn’t play well Sunday either. He missed open receivers, he freaked out at the sight of pressure, freaked out when there wasn’t pressure and he wasn’t more aggressive late in the game when the Falcons needed a couple of big scores.
Kevin Kolb, on the other hand, was outstanding. He completed 23-of-29 passes for 326 yards for three touchdowns and a pick (which was off a deflection), while absolutely shredding a clueless Atlanta defense. His average pass went for 11.2 yards and he hit open receiver after open receiver after open receiver the entire day. At one point he must have thought that he was in practice, because the Falcons’ defense put together one of the more putrid efforts you’ll ever see from a professional team this season. It was disgusting how bad they were, and this is supposed to be a Super Bowl contender.
Of course, it wasn’t all good news for the Eagles. After scoring on a 31-yard reverse (which was aided by John Abraham’s undisciplined approach on the play) and a 34-yard pass in the first quarter, DeSean Jackson was knocked out early in the first half when Atlanta corner Dunta Robinson lowered his shoulder right into the receiver’s head. Jackson never saw the hit coming and therefore couldn’t brace himself for it, and he lay on the turf for several minutes before being helped up by team trainers. He was finally able to walk off the field under his own power, but I would be shocked if he didn’t suffer a concussion. Robinson was flagged on the play and also didn’t return to the game after he lay on the ground for quite a while, too.
Some may have looked at the hit as a dirty play by Robinson, but what do you want him to do? Catch Jackson and lay him on the ground like you would a baby in a crib? Pull his flag? Take his knees out like most cornerbacks do?
Football is a violent game and these players fly around the field like a bunch of corvettes. Despite his size, Robinson is a hard-hitter and he took the opportunity to try and jar the ball loose after it looked like Jackson was going to come down with it. He lead with his shoulder and unfortunately he knocked Jackson out. He was appropriately flagged on the play and he had to sit out while his team got its ass handed to it for the rest of the afternoon.
That play was the only thing that didn’t go right for the Eagles on Sunday.
Follow the Scores Report editors on Twitter @clevelandteams and @bullzeyedotcom.