The Sports Xchange

ATLANTA — After the Philadelphia Eagles erased a big halftime deficit to take the lead, the Atlanta Falcons had a chance to fold midway through the fourth quarter.

Instead, the Falcons threw the ball to star receiver Julio Jones and relied on the leg of trusty veteran kicker Matt Bryant.

Jones caught two touchdown passes, and Bryant kicked four field goals to help the Falcons survive a furious Philadelphia rally in the second half and give new Atlanta coach Dan Quinn his first win, 26-24 on Monday at the Georgia Dome.

“What an awesome finish,” Quinn said. “We thought it would come down to the finish, just like it did.”

Jones made nine receptions for 141 yards, including a 44-yard catch that set up Bryant’s go-ahead, 47-yard field goal with 6:47 to play.

The Eagles had two more chances, but kicker Cody Parkey missed from 44 yards out, and quarterback Sam Bradford threw his second interception of the night on Philadelphia’s final drive. Atlanta safety Ricardo Allen corralled a tipped ball for the game-sealing interception.

Trailing 20-3, the Eagles grabbed the momentum early in the third quarter on safety Walter Thurmond’s interception of Ryan. Two plays later, running back DeMarco Murray scored his first touchdown as an Eagle on an 8-yard sweep.

Bradford shook off an uneven first half and led scoring drives of 95 and 80 yards in the second half. The Eagles took the lead, 24-23, on a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Ryan Mathews.

“I think the difference between the first half and the second half is that we were much more efficient on first down in the second half,” Bradford said. “We got things going, and once we got things rolling, we kept it that way.”

What we learned about the Eagles:

1. Quarterback Sam Bradford and the Eagles’ receivers are not completely on the same page yet. Multiple times in the first half, Bradford unleashed catchable balls to receivers who weren’t ready for them. Bradford also threw a bad interception to Atlanta safety William Moore late in the first half that led to a Julio Jones touchdown and a 20-3 Falcons halftime lead. Bradford and the offense found their rhythm in the second half, rallying to take the lead, but couldn’t come up with one last scoring drive. Bradford was picked off by Atlanta’s Ricardo Allen with less than two minutes to play, sending the Eagles to an opening loss.

2. The running game needs work. DeMarco Murray led the NFL in rushing last season with the Dallas Cowboys, but he managed just 9 yards on eight carries in his Philadelphia debut. He did score two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, but the Eagles finished with just 63 yards on the ground and were one-dimensional for much of the game.

3. Linebacker Kiko Alonso is back to his playmaking self after missing the 2014 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Bills, Alonso had six tackles and a highlight-reel interception in the first half that thwarted an Atlanta threat.

Etc.

–QB Sam Bradford, in his first regular-season game action since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last season with the St. Louis Rams, got off to a slow start but got into rhythm in the second half and led a Philadelphia rally. Bradford completed 36 of 52 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions.

–LB Kiko Alonso looks as if he is fully back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained before last season, when he was with the Buffalo Bills. Alonso, acquired by the Eagles in a trade, had six tackles and made a highlight-reel, one-handed interception in the end zone to end an Atlanta scoring threat in the first half.

–WR Jordan Matthews caught 10 passes for 102 yards to lead the Eagles. With last year’s leading receiver, Jeremy Maclin, now in Kansas City, Matthews looks as if he will be QB Sam Bradford’s go-to guy. Matthews was targeted a team-high 13 times.