Fly Eagles Fly.
With the wind and against it.
With Nick Foles engineering several long drives Authentic Ryan Kerrigan Jersey , Jake Elliott converting three field goals, and the defense getting stingy in the tightest spot, Philadelphia moved into the NFC championship game with a 15-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday.
Foles directed brilliant marches of 74 and 80 yards in the second half – one into the whipping wind, the other with it – and Elliott atoned for missing an extra point by converting from 53 yards at the end of the second quarter, 37 and 21 in the second half. Then the Eagles (14-3) held when Atlanta (11-7) got to the 9-yard line with a first down, and to the 2 on fourth down.
When Matt Ryan’s final pass sailed over Julio Jones’ head in the end zone , Philly could celebrate its first playoff victory since the 2008 season.
Next Sunday, the Eagles will host either Minnesota or New Orleans for the conference crown. The Eagles last made the Super Bowl in the 2004 season, losing to New England.
”I mean, we just kept believing in each other,” said Foles, who became the starter when Carson Wentz, a leading MVP contender, injured his knee in December. ”That was it. Our team never wavered, defense did an amazing job, special teams – that’s just been the story this year is that we just all stuck together…”
The Falcons, of course, memorably blew a 28-3 second-half lead to the Patriots in last year’s Super Bowl. They will not get the opportunity to atone for it Womens Tyler Eifert Jersey , though Ryan got them close at the end.
Despite being underdogs as the No. 1 seed, the Eagles showed plenty of moxie.
”Just keep on disrespecting and we’re going to keep proving people wrong,” receiver Alshon Jeffery said.
A masterful 74-yard, 12-play drive on which Foles threw for 70 yards led to Elliott’s 37-yard kick into the wind that made it 12-10. The Eagles then put together their best drive, an 80-yarder covering 14 plays, yet again faltered close to the end zone. Elliott added a 21-yarder with 6:02 remaining after coach Doug Pederson briefly considered going for it on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 3.
”It was tricky out there, really gusty,” Elliott said.
Then, as the fans in the Linc held their breath, the Eagles held deep in their territory.
”Man, just stay calm,” said defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, who was a force all day. ”We always talk about that. We’ve been in those situations during the regular season, so we kind of know how to handle those situations, not try to make a play but let the play come to us.”
And the road to the Super Bowl remains through Philly.
WINDY DECISIONS
Falcons coach Dan Quinn could have opted to take the wind in the fourth quarter after deferring on the opening coin toss. Instead, he took the ball to start the second half, but it was the Eagles who got the only points of the third period.
And in the end, Atlanta had to deal with the currents on that final drive Authentic Drew Brees Jersey , which did include a 20-yard completion to Jones on fourth-and-6.
”It was a tough game for us tonight,” Quinn said, ”and as we go through, we will go back and assess everything we have done.”
ERROR-FILLED HALF
Mistakes hurt the Eagles in the opening half. Jay Ajayi’s fumble and a misplayed punt that bounced off Bryan Braman led to all 10 Atlanta points.
Things began nicely for Philadelphia when safety Brian Poole was tagged with pass interference on a deep pass by Foles that was held up by the wind. But Ajayi fumbled on the next play with Keanu Neal recovering.
Atlanta efficiently mixed runs and passes to drive to Matt Bryant’s 33-yard field goal for an early lead.
Philadelphia got the run game going with Ajayi in the opening period. Then, with the wind in the next quarter, the Eagles kept the Falcons so off-balance Atlanta took two timeouts in three plays.
Receiver Nelson Agholor’s 21-yard run got the ball to the 3, and Foles botched a handoff to Corey Clement. But the quarterback quickly dived on the loose ball and was ruled to have scored. Replay showed otherwise.
Pederson showed no hesitation going for it, and Blount surged in from the 1. Elliott’s missed extra point left it 6-3.
Soon after came Matt Bosher’s punt that took a wicked bounce and hit Braman while he was blocking. From the Philly 18, the Falcons benefited from two penalties before Ryan scrambled from pressure and found Devonta Freeman for a 6-yard TD and a 10-3 lead.
With 46 seconds left in the half, the hosts got lucky. Foles’ errant pass ricocheted off Neal’s hands to Torrey Smith for 20 yards. Jeffery made a long stretch to haul in another throw with 1 second remaining, and Elliott’s 53-yard field goal just made it over the crossbar.
”It was great for momentum,” Foles said. ”Jake did an awesome job of kicking that for us.”
QB NUMBERS
Foles finished a very efficient outing by going 23 of 30 for 246 yards.
Ryan was 22 of 36 for 210 yards on a difficult day to throw. Jones had nine receptions for 101 yards.
UP NEXT
Philadelphia will host either Minnesota or New Orleans next Sunday night for the NFC title.
Atlanta’s season ends after a wild-card berth and a win at Los Angeles before Saturday’s defeat.
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Police and prosecutors in Georgia say they're reviewing the arrest of a former football player whose lawyers say officers used excessive force.
Video circulated online last week of the Dec. 2 arrest of Desmond Marrow in a shopping center parking lot in McDonough, just south of Atlanta. Marrow, 30, is a former college football player who tried to catch on with two NFL teams.
In the one-minute video clip, officers can be seen forcefully taking a handcuffed Marrow to the ground by sweeping his legs out from under him as he yells, "I'm not even fighting back." When he's on the ground, an officer puts his hand on Marrow's throat for several seconds and Marrow says http://www.lionscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-golden-tate-iii-jersey , "I can't breathe," while another officer tells him to settle down.
Chris Stewart, an attorney for Marrow, said it's clear from the video that Marrow wasn't resisting and the officers used excessive force. The officers should be fired and the charges against Marrow should be dropped, Stewart said.
Robbie Swinson, who witnessed Marrow's arrest, said in a phone interview Monday that the video "speaks for itself, and it shows excessive force" because Marrow was already cuffed. But he said it only shows a tiny slice of a long encounter and that Marrow aggressively chased another vehicle down the road and in the parking lot, talked about shooting people and then scuffled with police as they tried to handcuff him.
Although a use of force review was done at the time of the arrest, Henry County police Chief Mark Amerman earlier in April ordered an internal affairs investigation, department spokesman Capt. Joey Smith said in an email Friday. One of the officers was placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation, he said.
"The Henry County Police Department takes any charges of excessive use of force very seriously and wants to assure the public that this event will be fully investigated," Smith said.
Henry County District Attorney Darius Pattillo said in an emailed statement Friday that his office is conducting a parallel investigation to determine whether the use of force was justified. That is being done by a review panel that includes Pattillo, his chief investigator, another veteran prosecutor and a use of force expert.
"The portion of the video distributed is graphic and violent, and we understand why people are disturbed by this," Pattillo said. "I can assure you that once the investigation is complete, we will respond appropriately."
His office is also examining the charges against Marrow Womens Terrell Suggs Jersey , including felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor reckless driving and misdemeanor aggressive driving.
Marrow told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that he was driving along when two white men pulled up next to him and started yelling racial slurs and threw a cup of coffee at him. He stayed calm but drove fast to follow them and get their license plate number and followed them into the parking lot to talk to them, he said.
One of the men listed on the police report as a victim disputes that. Scott Davis told the AP by phone Monday that Marrow began aggressively riding his bumper, cursed at him and his friend, threw a rock at their car and yelled that he had a loaded gun and would shoot them.
At one point, Marrow pulled in front of them and tried to block them and appeared to be getting out of his truck, so Davis threw a can of Coke to slow him down so they could get away, Davis said. Marrow then followed them into the shopping center parking lot and chased them "driving like a madman" as Davis called 911, Davis said.
Swinson saw Marrow chasing a car along the road and then saw him continue to chase the car through the parking lot, he said. Worried that one of them would hit someone in the parking lot, Swinson said he tried to get between the two cars to stop them.
He blocked Marrow, who got out of the car complaining that the men in the other car had thrown some liquid at his car and hollering that he had a gun, Swinson said.
Police found no weapons when they searched Marrow and decided to arrest him after speaking to the alleged victims and witnesses who said they had seen Marrow aggressively chasing another vehicle and making threats, a police report says.
Marrow played football at the University of Toledo in Ohio but wasn't drafted out of college. He signed a contract in 2012 with the Houston Texans but was cut during preseason. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked him up but he didn't make the team.
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