Barkley’s decisive fall late in the 4th quarter burns the Eagles in a 22-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons

PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley had at least a first down, maybe even a touchdown, within reach that would have sealed the Eagles’ victory in their home opener.

Barkley fumbled a reception and couldn’t hold on to Jalen Hurts’ short pass. It was a huge drop on third down at the Atlanta 10-yard line with 1:46 left in the game that stopped the clock late in the game and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal.

Barkley’s miss was the opening the Atlanta Falcons needed to pull off the big win with the kind of impeccable play the Eagles couldn’t duplicate. Kirk Cousins ​​capped the game-winning play with a touchdown pass to Drake London and Atlanta upset Philadelphia 22-21 in its home opener Monday night.

“I dropped the ball,” Barkley said bluntly. “I let my team down today. I shouldn’t have put the defense in that position. If I catch the ball, the game is over.”

Barkley and Hurts, who gave the Eagles an 18-15 lead with a 1-yard push-and-pull touchdown run in the fourth quarter, had a brief postgame conversation in the locker room.

The message was simple: Hurts still supported Barkley.

“He’s going to trust me every time in this situation,” Barkley said.

After Barkley’s drop, Jake Elliott kicked a 28-yard field goal rather than let the Eagles try to score on fourth down.

“We wanted to get up six points. It didn’t work out,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I wanted them to come back and score a touchdown and see if they could take over the field. And they did.”

With a three-year contract worth $26 million guaranteed, Barkley is the highest-paid running back in franchise history. The 27-year-old former New York Giants player had a knack for dropping the ball while playing for the NFC East rival.

“I trust him every day of the week to make a play,” Hurts said. “Like everybody else. We’ll be better for it.”

Maybe next time, the Eagles will just trust Barkley enough to rush for first down.

Even after London got cornerback Darius Slay on fire and scored, the Eagles still had 34 seconds to at least get to the field goal area for Elliott. Hurts had his pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III, ending any hopes of a stunning comeback for Philadelphia.

“The goal of that play was to get down the field,” Sirianni said. “He took a risk and the guy made a good play.”

Like Barkley, Slay took the blame for the loss after letting London beat him for the winning TD.

“It’s my fault Philly!! I owe you one. FUCK!!!!,” Slay wrote on social media.

A year after starting 10-1, the Eagles are already 1-1 with games against undefeated teams like New Orleans and Tampa Bay.

Barkley rushed for 95 yards in his home debut a week after rushing for 109 yards and three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the game’s opening drive ended without Barkley touching the ball. Led by Hollywood star Bradley Cooper, Eagles fans went wild when he had back-to-back 9-yard runs to open the second drive.

Barkley’s continued success would not last.

The defense couldn’t stifle the long play against Cousins ​​and the defense for the full 60 minutes.

Under new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the Eagles quickly became accustomed to allowing long drives that ended in three points instead of seven. Atlanta’s Younghoe Koo made field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last of which was enough to give the Packers a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their first game, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they crossed the 20-yard line.

Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract in the offseason, has been in great shape in the second half of the season. Cousins ​​connected on a 41-yard TD pass to Darnell Mooney that gave Atlanta a 15-10 lead. Cousins ​​then connected on a 21- and 26-yard TD pass to Mooney on consecutive plays in the game-winning drive.

“We can get beat, especially if we don’t take advantage of our opportunities,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said.

With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, DeVonta Smith led the Eagles with seven receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown. Sirianni said he wasn’t sure how long Brown would be out.

“Obviously, we really miss him,” Hurts said. “That doesn’t change the confidence I have in everybody else to do what’s necessary. We just didn’t rise to the occasion. It wasn’t for us tonight.”

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