Philadelphia Eagles' Hurts, Barkley vow to improve, learn froml loss to Falcons

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Saquon Barkley assumed major blame for the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons after a critical drop in the final minutes. The running back and quarterback Jalen Hurts vowed to learn from the setback.

Barkley's brutal drop occurred with about 1:42 remaining in the 22-21 loss Monday in Philadelphia.

"I dropped the ball," Barkley told reporters. "I let my team down. Shouldn't have put the defense in that position. Make that catch and the game's over."

The Eagles led 18-15 just before Barkley's drop and were just 10 yards away from likely putting the game away with a touchdown.

Hurts started the sequence by taking a snap on a 3rd and 3 play. He first faked a pitch to Barkley, before rolling out to his righ while Barkley ran to the right flat. Hurts then tossed a pass to the running back, who appeared ready to catch the ball and had space to likely pick up a first down.

Instead, the ball hit Barkley's fingertips and fell to the ground. The Eagles settled for a 28-yard Jake Elliott field goal to end the drive.

Peyton Manning is every Eagles fan watching that drop pic.twitter.com/FtWhJjJHze — Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) September 17, 2024

Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins proceeded to orchestrate a sixplay, 70-yard scoring drive. He ended that possession with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Drake London to give the Falcons their final advantage with 38 seconds remaining.

Hurts threw an interception to Falcons safety Jessie Bates on the second play of the next drive, effectively ending the game.

Barkley totaled 116 yards from scrimmage on 26 touches in the loss. Hurts completed 22 of 30 passes for 183 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also ran for 85 yards and another score.

"I could sit here and complain and be upset about it, or I could be a professional athlete and go back to the drawing boards and take the lick and move on and get better from it," Barkley said.

"I've made that play multiple times. I've missed that play before too, meaning the situation. It happens. It's part of the game.

"I've just got to be better. I let my team down, I gotta man up to it. I got to own, which I'm doing. Gotta promise those guys in this locker room that I'll be better for them."

THE FALCONS TIE IT WITH 34 SECONDS LEFT.

: #ATLvsPHI on ESPN : Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/j2bWgkxmC4 — NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024

Cousins completed 20 of 29 passes for 241 yards and two scores. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson totaled 122 yards from scrimmage on 18 touches.

"Obviously, it's a tough loss," Hurts said. "We'll learn from it. I trust him [Barkley] every day of the week to make a play, just like everybody else.

"We'll be better from it."

Monday's game featured six lead changes. The Eagles and Falcons totaled 22 first downs apiece. The Falcons out-gained the Eagles 385-365 in total yards. The Eagles also committed nine penalties, compared to three from the Falcons. The Eagles held an edge in time of possession of more than 15 minutes.

JESSIE BATES III SEALS THE IMPROBABLE FALCONS WIN. #ATLvsPHI pic.twitter.com/ukPLS3LjT8 — NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024

"They made a couple more plays than we did down the stretch," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "We made some plays, they made more. That's on all of us. That starts with coaching and goes to the players. We are all responsible for the loss. That's how close games are in this league, 22-21, sometimes it comes down to a couple plays.

"It's never just one play, never just that play, because all the plays equal up to the win or to the loss."

The Falcons (1-1) will host the Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) at 8:20 p.m. EDT Sunday in Atlanta. The Eagles (1-1) will battle the New Orleans Saints (2-0) at 1 p.m. Sunday in New Orleans.