At long last, it’s game time in the 2018 NFL regular season. Kicking off this new football season we have the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Atlanta Falcons in a battle of the last two NFC representatives in the Super Bowl. Both teams had different results in their Super Bowl appearances yet equally infamous, so it’s a very fitting that we start the year with these two juggernauts. Matt Ryan gets the start for the Falcons, and with Carson Wentz still recovering from an injury Nick Foles would get the nod at quarterback for the Eagles. The game was delayed fourty-five minutes due to storms making the anticipation all the better. Both teams are slated for the playoffs so we should be in for a good game… Right?
If you were hoping for an offensive explosion out of the gate then you’d be sorely disappointing with the first half. In fact the first quarter would see the Eagles put up zero yards in the first quarter, and the Falcons were shut down twice first and goal settling for a field goal in the first quarter. A fun noteworthy thing that happened in the second quarter was the Philly Special 2.0 and yes, Foles caught it again. This left the game at 3-0 Falcons after one. The second quarter wasn’t much better for offence as this would also prove to have no touchdowns. Both teams would trade field goals in the second quarter to make the game 6-3 Atlanta at the half. The defence on both sides were shining out of the gate, and despite the low score, the closeness of the game was certainly making things interesting.
Thankfully the snore fest would start to subside in the second half of the game as we’d get the first touchdown of the early season. It would be Eagles running back Jay Ajayi who put up the first major of the game. Those would be the only points scored in the third quarter giving Philly its first lead of the game at 10-6. This takes us to the fourth quarter so hold onto your butts, cuz we got more scoring in the fourth than any other quarter. The Falcons would strike first on a run by Tevin Coleman finally breaking the Philly redzone defence, however they’d miss the point after giving them only six on the major. Now with the score at 12-10 the Eagles needed a comeback to win the game. Sure enough with about two and a half minutes to go in the game the play was made. Once again it was on the ground with Ajayi as he punched through the defence on the left side and bull rushed his way in for the major. The Eagles now had a 18-12 lead after converting on the two-point convert with just over two minutes to go. The Falcons fought their way to the Eagles zone but to no avail as they fell short and made the final score 18-12 Eagles.
Now some stats for the fantasy players. Quarterback numbers were as follows, Matt Ryan went 21/43 for 251 yards and one interception. Nick Foles went 19/34 for 117 yards and one interception.
Running backs went as such, Devonta Freeman was 6 carries for 36 yards, and Jay Ajayi was 15 caries for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns. Top receivers were Julio Jones with 10 catches for 169 yards, and Zack Ertz with 5 catches for 48 yards. Kickers were perfect with Matt Bryant 2/2, and Jake Elliot at 1/1. Tune in Sunday for a synopsis on all the games for Sunday Night Football, and again on Monday for a full game recap of Mondays games on FandomWire.
