The Falcons’ run defense, which recently went 14-straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher, has been a bright spot for most of 2016. That wasn’t the case on Sunday, however: Ryan Mathews tallied 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Eagles; Wendell Smallwood and Darren Sproles added 70 and 19 yards on the ground, respectively.
By composing such an effective rushing attack, Philly’s offense was able to stay balanced, eat a lot of clock, take pressure off its rookie QB and, ultimately, put up enough points to win.
“I wish it was one thing, we could say it was one thing and we would have corrected that,” head coach Dan Quinn said about his team’s woes against the run.