The Sports Xchange

PHILADELPHIA — Last season, Cody Parkey was one of the league’s most reliable kickers. He converted 32 of 36 field-goal attempts, including 8 of 10 from 40-plus yards. But as Kai Forbath found out in Washington, that was then and this is now.

In the Philadelphia Eagles’ Monday night 26-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Parkey missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt with 21/2 minutes left that would have given them the lead.

This comes on the heels of a shaky preseason in which he missed a 34-yard field-goal attempt and also missed an extra point.

“I have a lot of confidence in Cody Parkey,” Eagles coach Chip Kelly said. “He’s a Pro-Bowl kicker and I’ve seen him make a lot of big kicks for us.”

The truth is, he’ll have a lot of confidence in him until his next miss. And then all bets are off.

“He was fine,” Kelly said. “He was fine on every other kick (against the Falcons). I don’t know if the timing was off or what. But we kicked it with seven seconds left on the play clock. So it wasn’t like we were rushed and he didn’t have a chance to get it set. So we’ll have to take a look at that.”

–Quarterback Sam Bradford threw two interceptions against the Falcons. The second one sailed right through the hands of wide receiver Jordan Matthews. But the first was Bradford’s fault and set up a late-second quarter touchdown for the Falcons.

“That’s something that just can’t happen,” Bradford said. “Especially with that little time left in the half. I’ve got to be more careful with the ball when we’re backed up. Can’t give them the ball with a short field.”

REPORT CARD VS. FALCONS

PASSING OFFENSE: B – It was a tale of two halves for Sam Bradford and his receivers. Bradford was 15-for-27 for 117 yards in the first half, but 21-for-25 for 219 yards in the second half. Most of Bradford’s success came inside, with slot receiver Jordan Matthews and running back Darren Sproles, who combined for 17 receptions and 178 yards.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D – The Eagles spent a lot of money to sign DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews in the offseason. Against the Falcons, they combined for just 13 yards on 11 carries, though each of them had a rushing touchdown. The Eagles’ leading rusher against the Falcons was Darren Sproles, who had 50 yards on five carries, 27 of which came on one run.

PASS DEFENSE: C-minus – Yes, the Eagles had two interceptions, including one by safety Walter Thurmond that set up a touchdown. But their rebuilt secondary struggled most of the day against quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones, who had nine catches for 141 yards and two TDs.

RUSH DEFENSE: A-minus – The Eagles gave up a 20-yard run to Falcons rookie Tevin Coleman, but otherwise did an excellent job of shutting down the run. They held the Falcons to 3.0 yards per carry.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus – The Eagles’ coverage teams did an outstanding job of muzzling the Falcons’ return game. But Cody Parkey missed a critical 44-yard field goal with 21/2 minutes left that would have given the Eagles the lead. And Donnie Jones shanked a punt in the first half that gift-wrapped a field goal for Atlanta.

COACHING: C – Defensive coordinator Bill Davis’ blitzes were largely ineffective against QB Matt Ryan. Head coach Chip Kelly made a questionable decision on a critical third-and-1 just prior to Parkey’s field-goal miss, leaving DeMarco Murray on the sideline and giving the ball to Ryan Mathews, who was stopped for no gain. With the Cowboys last season, Murray converted 14 of 19 third-and-ones.