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The Atlanta Falcons withstood a last-gasp effort from the Philadelphia Eagles in the closing seconds of their 22-21 win on Monday evening after safety Jessie Bates III picked off quarterback Jalen Hurts to seal the victory.
On Wednesday, Dan Patrick asked quarterback Kirk Cousins, who just led the Falcons on the eventual game-winning touchdown drive, how he felt in the final minute with the game in the defense’s hands.
“…I’ve got some scars in my football career where I thought we had won the game and then it didn’t end up the way I had hoped. So I get a little skeptical when I’m standing there watching, but you also believe we can do this.
“All the Eagles needed was a field goal, so I was just standing and watching, and our defense made a great play. Jessie Bates III was instinctual, got the interception, and at that point, just needed to take a knee.”
Cousins led the Falcons on a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive capped by a seven-yard toss to Drake London for the game-tying touchdown.
Younghoe Koo’s PAT, which was pushed back 15 more yards after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, put Atlanta up 22-21.
The Eagles’ ensuing drive started on their own 30-yard line with 34 seconds left and two timeouts in hand. Hurts hit tight end Dallas Goedert for 13 yards to start, but Bates’ big play then sealed the Falcons win.
Philadelphia had a chance to put the game away with their second-to-last drive. Hurts found an open Saquon Barkley on 3rd-and-3, but the running back dropped the ball. A catch and a first down in-bounds would have let the Eagles run out the clock.
Instead, the Eagles went for (and got) the field goal, leading to Cousins’ heroics down the stretch.
Cousins and the Falcons will look to move to 2-1 when they host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday evening.