Philadelphia win as Ajayi said "There's nothing held me back" even with threatening storms

The 2018 NFL season kicked off on Thursday night as the Super Bowl Champions Philadelphia Eagles won against Super Bowl 51 runners-up Atlanta Falcons. The last time these two played against each other was the divisional round of the playoffs and Atlanta were one play away from beating the Eagles. Also, these two teams as mentioned were the last two teams to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Philadelphia at the end of last season renegotiated Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles' contract, which was what they had to do considering that they weren't sure whether starting quarterback Carson Wentz might not be ready to play. Another key player Wide Reciever Alshon Jeffery was out as he was recovering from surgery that he had in the off-season.

Wentz is still out as he recovers from his season-ending injury

Meanwhile, the questions for Atlanta were would the Falcons offence get back to the standard they set in 2016. This season along with a top offence they have a defence that hopefully can match their counterparts on offence. The Falcons are led by 2016 MVP Matt Ryan, with one of the best receivers Julio Jones and rookie sensation Calvin Ridley. If the defence is an issue then they have a head coach who was the defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks during their Legion of Boom era. Atlanta is also at a so-called disadvantage as the Super Bowl is being played in their stadium and the hosts have never played in the Super Bowl.

2016 MVP Matt Ryan wants to win the Super Bowl

Before kickoff, the NFL had an opening kickoff show with Shawn Mendes performing a couple of miles from Lincoln Financial Field. The game was supposed to kick off at 8:20 eastern seaboard time, however, half an hour before the scheduled time a thunderstorm appeared on the radar heading for the stadium so they delayed kickoff because of fan safety. After all the ceremony of showing the championship banner with 2018 Hall of Famer and former Eagles Defender Brian Dawkins, there was a game to be played. 

The Falcons got the ball first and went all the way to the goal-line but the Eagles defence made a stand stopping them from scoring the first touchdown of the season a touchdown on four attempts. Then the Falcons defence turned up and dominated the Eagles offence on two consecutive drives. The first points of the season went to Atlanta's kicker Matt Bryant as he kicked a field goal from the 4-yard line to make it 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.

After that, the Eagles defence entered the match and starting to hold the Falcons offence. Foles and the offence then finally kicked themselves into the game with a drive of their own to the Falcons but it stalled just 10 yards short and second-year kicker Jake Elliot to make it 3-3. Atlanta went down the field for a response and it looked like it would be a touchdown again but Eagles defender Jordan Hicks sacked Ryan and forced Bryant to kick a 52-yard attempt which he converted to restore the 3 point lead. As halftime approached the Falcons wanted to make it a 10 point lead and Philadelphia actually had a chance to stop them with an interception. It finished 6-3 at halftime and the feeling was that the defences were playing good football but the offences weren't hitting on all cylinders.

UK born Jay Ajayi scored 2 touchdowns in the win

That comment was shown as on the first Eagles drive the Eagles were lucky not to turn the ball over twice. Then they did a play that was so familiar. It was the same trick play they used in the Super Bowl which was a receiver pass to Foles and he got them a first down this time not a touchdown. Then London born Jay Ajayi who is one of the feature running backs for the Eagles started to run down the Falcons defence and he scored the first touchdown of the season nearly halfway through the third quarter. After that, the Eagles defence found another gear as they kept the Falcons offence on first gear and Roland Darby showed that by deflecting a pass which would have kept the Falcons offence going for a reply to the touchdown. However, at the end of the 3rd quarter, it finished 10-6 Eagles.

The 4th didn't start well for Ryan as he threw an interception. Foles returned the favour on the next drive. The Falcons said thank you very much and repaid it with a touchdown by Tevin Coleman to make 12-10. Bryant then missed the point extra. On the next drive, Ajayi got his second touchdown of the game off an 11-yard run. Ajayi also ran the ball in for the two-point conversion. The Falcons then went down towards the Eagles goal line. They then had 4 attempts again and on the final play of the game, they went to Julio Jones who had the ball in his hands but couldn't land inside the field of play. Philadelphia ended the first game of their defence with an 18-12 win.

The best player of the game was Jay Ajayi with 15 carries 62 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile, the quarterbacks had a mixed day with Nick Foles completing 19 passes of 34 attempts with 117 yards 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. Matt Ryan had 21 completions of 43 attempts for 251 yards 0 touchdowns and 1 interception.

So the NFL's back not with a bang but hopefully, the games will be more interesting as the season progresses. I'll be back with more on the NFL as the season carries on and the road to Super Bowl in Atlanta has begun.

KRO Mark