You like that?! That was an incredible game-winning drive by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who led his team to a stunning 22-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.
The Falcons are now 1-1, as are the Eagles. But this was a completely unexpected win for Atlanta, especially when you consider just how little of a chance it had to win the game after the two-minute warning.
Let’s look at five key stats from Cousins and the Falcons’ miraculous comeback win.
5 Key Stats From the Falcons’ Week 2 Win
1) 0.7%
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Falcons had less than a 1% chance of winning the game with 1:56 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons had just a 0.7% chance of winning with 1:56 left in the 4th quarter, according to the NGS win probability model.
The comeback is the 7th-most improbable win in the NGS era (since 2016).#ATLvsPHI | @AtlantaFalcons pic.twitter.com/iZF0nkwHvx
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 17, 2024
At that point, the Eagles had a first-and-10 at the Falcons’ 17-yard line. All the Eagles had to do was run the ball three straight plays. Even if they didn’t pick up the first down, the Eagles would still leave the Falcons with little time and no timeouts remaining for a game-winning drive.
But the Eagles called a passing play on third-and-3 with 1:46 to play. Running back Saquon Barkley dropped the pass, opening the door for the Atlanta’s game-winning drive.
2) 16 Drops
Speaking of Barkley, his 16 drops leads NFL running backs since 2021.
Barkley was one of the biggest free agent acquisitions this past offseason. He had another solid game on Monday night, but that dropped pass was just so demoralizing.
Rich Eisen was the pregame and halftime host Monday night on Westwood One. He accurately summarized the events in the last 106 seconds of the game.
And they smashed the door down with that break
What a win for the Falcons and a crusher for Philly https://t.co/i6Ban76WZi
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) September 17, 2024
This was the first of three prime-time games in a span of four weeks for Atlanta. And talk about smashing the door down — that’s what the Falcons did.
They now have three straight home games, including next Sunday night against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
3) 6 Lead Changes
This game had six lead changes. While the ending was dramatic, the whole game was tightly contested.
In the second half alone, there were five lead changes. This was a terrific back-and-forth game.
And give the Falcons credit for weathering the storm all night.
The Falcons took just over three minutes to respond to the Eagles taking a 10-9 lead late in the third quarter, covering 70 yards to go ahead 15-10 on Cousins’ 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darnell Mooney.
Cousins to Mooney! @AtlantaFalcons have their first TD of the night
📺: #ATLvsPHI on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/OYOWjShvSj— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024
The ending of this game will be talked about at length this week. But what can’t be lost is how well-played and back-and-forth this game was between two really talented teams.
4) 12 Tackles for Jessie Bates III
A key matchup going into this game was Bates and the Falcons’ secondary against the Eagles’ receiving corps. With Philly down A.J. Brown, Atlanta’s secondary took advantage.
Bates, in particular, had a huge pass break-up on Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Quarterback Jalen Hurts threw an out-route towards the front right pylon, and the pass hit Smith right in his hands.
Bates, though, made the play by breaking up the pass and denied the Eagles a touchdown. Philadelphia settled for a field goal, and Atlanta scored a touchdown on its ensuing drive.
Maria Martin is an Emmy Award-winning sports anchor at Atlanta’s 11 Alive, the city’s NBC affiliate.
TD saving PBU
Game saving INT
Jessie Bates in his bag— Maria Martin (@Ria_Martin) September 17, 2024
Bates did make the game-ending interception, literally flying in like a Falcon to pick off a Hurts pass intended for Smith. It was the exclamation point for a great performance by one of the NFL’s best safeties.
Back in March of 2023, Bates signed a four-year, $64 million contract with the Falcons as a free agent. Thirty-six million of those dollars are guaranteed.
Bates’ 12 tackles on Monday night is double the number of tackles he had in Week 1 against Pittsburgh. Bates took advantage of a depleted Eagles receiving corps and was not going to let Smith beat the Falcons’ talented secondary.
5) 1,418
That’s the number of days it had been since the Falcons won a prime-time game.
Monday night was the Falcons’ first game on Monday Night Football in four years, and they showed they belong on the prime-time stage.
Remember, this was a team that didn’t have any prime-time contests last year and just one each in 2021 and 2022. Plus, the Falcons have had a losing record in each of the last six seasons.
It’s not far-fetched to say Cousins and the Falcons exorcised some demons on Monday night, considering their last playoff game was a 15-10 loss to Nick Foles and the Eagles in Philadelphia in January of 2018.
Could Cousins and the Falcons be exorcising demons this entire season? Perhaps, and this stunning win at Philadelphia is a good place to start.