1973 Falcons at Eagles GOTW week 9

rookie head coach Mike McCormick heads one of the hottest clubs in pro football the flying Philadelphia Eagles winners of three of their last four games McCormick and his assistants have transformed the Eagles into a cohesive happy and talented ball club that despite a slow start still is very much in the running for first place in the NFC East the wild-card spot in the National Conference may be a more realistic way to make the playoffs for Philadelphia but the very fact that the playoffs can be discussed at all indicates just how far the Eagles have come since last year's sorry season this team is explosive and it is very very young 13 rookies have made the roster and the amazing total of seven and sometimes eight are starters the Eagles are high but the team they face today is even hotter for the Atlanta Falcons have won four straight games their coach norm Van Brocklin is a familiar figure in Philadelphia he quarterback the Eagles to the 1960 championship the Dutchman has his falcons in second place in the NFC's Western Division just one game behind the leading Rams the Falcons began the season with feast or famine style they either won or lost by large margins now they seem to settle down the biggest reason for their newfound consistency is bobbly their new quarterback since the former Viking took over for dick shiner Atlanta is undefeated [Music] an interesting feature of this game today is that it matches the NFC's number one passing team the Eagles against the conference's number one passing defense the Falcons a clash between two high flying birds of a different feather in the NFL game of the week the Atlanta Falcons versus the Philadelphia Eagles [Music] the Eagles defense is a mixture of cagey old veterans like Marlon McKeever and Gerry Philbin young veterans such as Bill Bradley and Steve Sabol and raw youth at times as many as five rookies have played together on Philadelphia's starting defensive unit [Music] when the falcons first play of the game the eagle defense led by Marlon McKeever stopped Atlanta's leading runner Dave Hampton cold Hampton was playing hurt and how he and his running mates would bear today was one of the keys of this game one second down Hampton must to pitch out but quarterback Lee managed to pick up the ball before being engulfed by white shirts [Music] now with 1/3 down on their own to quarterback Lee rolled right deep in the end zone had plenty of time to throw but over through into the arms of John outlaw number 20 outlaw playing in place of the injured Alan Nelson returned to the Atlanta 22 [Music] the young Philadelphia defense had been magnificent they had driven the Falcons back when their first two plays and taken the ball away on the 3rd now their offensive counterparts took over with the ball and excellent field position on the Falcon 22 yard line [Music] [Music] on the first play quarterback Roman Gabriel drop back to pass look downfield then dump the ball in the flat to tight end Charlie young when the 230 pound rookie gets the ball things happen [Music] young battle for 12 yards and a first down on the 10 two plays later Gabriel tried the same side this time to Tom Sullivan who made it inside the flag for touchdown Philadelphia had drawn first blood seven nothing [Music] Atlanta and Bob Lee came out winging on their next series [Music] under heavy pressure please still managed to hit Dave Hampton for 14 yards then leave passed to Al Dodd for 16 yards and a second first down in two tribes [Music] we'll win is more than a slogan in Philadelphia he's a rookie defensive end today the 6-4 win was to be one of the focal points of this game because as the lone rookie on an otherwise experienced front for the Falcons decided to attack his position so after Lee had passed them into Eagle territory tackle Bill sandeman continually blocked number 71 Atlanta began to move on the ground Eddie ray number 44 playing in place of the injured art Malone drew first blood by gouging out yardage threw the Eagle defense [Music] next it was Dave Hampton playing despite a dislocated elbow [Music] and finally it was harmon wages number five running hard like his hero Paul Hornung once did for Green Bay [Music] despite its patched-up ground game Atlanta found it could run on the Eagles their fourth straight attempt this one by Ray got them into the end zone to tie the game [Music] the view from the top showed ray stumbled ran into his own interference then recovered who just edged the ball over the goal line with a tying touchdown [Music] on the next series Gabriel double-pumped and tested Atlanta's league-leading secondary he lost [Music] free safety Clarence Ellis number 29 made the steel then made a 48 yard return [Music] the former Notre Dame stars interception was a thirteenth for the Falcons this season more importantly it gave Atlanta great opportunity and they grabbed it at the start of the second quarter when Lee faked array then lofted a pass to Ken Burrell all by himself in the corner of the endzone Atlanta had scored its second touchdown in a span of four minutes to go ahead 14 to 7 [Music] after in Atlanta field goal increased their lead to 10 points setback Tom Sullivan brought his team back with a great catch good for 21 yards [Music] another look at the play shows it took a perfect pass from Gabriel to get the ball over number 58 linebacker Don Hansen the defender on the pads the rest was Sullivan his acrobatics brought the Eagles in the Falcon territory where Tom Dempsey kicked a 34 yarder for three points [Music] would reduce to put it off via deficit to seven once more with time winding down in the first half that Matt appeared it would continue its ball controlling ground attack but then the Falcons got fancy and the Eagle defense got tough [Music] when Lee was smothered trying to pass for first down Atlanta was forced to punt in Philadelphia had another opportunity to get on the boards before the half was out [Music] Harold Carmichael has been one of the big men all season for the birds and his 24 yard run dropped the ball close enough for Tom Dempsey to attempt the kick from 48 yards out Dempsey's long-range field goal brought the Eagles to within four points of the Falcons and gave their fans much to cheer about four-footed Alfie has been an explosive second-half team this season Atlanta's four-point lead seem shaky indeed the Falcons opened the second half with a brutally efficient ground game notice the blocks on number 75 Dennis Fergus key at number 84 Richard Harris and a gaping wound in the Eagles defensive line for Eddie ray to power through [Music] even when the Falcons made a mistake it went their way ray got another hole but he fumbled right into the hands of al Dodd who tacked on eight more yards [Music] with the Eagles now conscious of the run Lee made a play fake to Hampton rolled away from pressure by Richard Harris and hit Larry my Alec for 17 yards [Music] my Alex spike did not count where he had been knocked out of bounds four yards short of the endzone it was four yards the Falcons could have used the Eagle defense led by number 85 middle linebacker Marlon McKeever would not allow the touchdown [Music] with a fourth and goal at the one then brought them up for the field goal in Atlanta led 20 to 13 but the Eagles came right back with a penalty helping them to get started Sullivan was stopped for no gain but stopped by John Zuke's grab of his facemask bringing an automatic first down then Gabriel went back to the wide receiver screen and Carmichael an awesome receiving threat showed that he could be an even greater threat as a belligerent ball carrier pharmacal carried for 31 yards then on a critical third and one Sullivan pop threw for 13 yards when Tom Hayes grabbed Sullivan's facemask again the Eagles had a first down on the 4 and from there Gabriel fake to Sullivan Sullivan chopped down blitzing linebacker Greg Brezina and bula slipped into Brezina vacated area the Falcons who had given up just 22 points in their last four games had now unit 20 in one game as the Eagles high-powered offense came back to tie at 20 later in the third quarter the Falcons did stop the Eagle offense and forced the punt watch as Ray Brown takes a step to the right to get the Eagles moving in that direction then goes left to get through the Atlanta return wall [Music] Hunter Tom McNeil finally got to brown after a 41 yard return but the Falcons had the ball on the Philadelphia 42 yard line but they could advance no farther Lee hit burrow on a sideline pattern but notice burrows feet clearly hitting the sideline causing an incompletion a penalty cost the Falcons a field goal try but that proved to be a break for putter John James trotted out the old coffin corner kick and hit it perfectly [Music] James's punch went out on the one foot line and the play proved to be a turning point in the game the Eagles were now forced to move literally from the shadow of their own goalpost if the Falcon defense could hold the Eagles without a first down they could capture good field position once more [Music] the Falcons held after a punt got possession on the Eagle 43 going into the fourth quarter after moving to a first down Lee cut linebacker Steve Sabol and safety Randy Logan in a blitz leaving Burrell wide open in the right flat then Lee went back to Hampton who poured through another big hole in the Eagle defensive line for ten more yards [Music] on a repeat we can see that sable was caught in a blitz again he simply ran by Hampton and Hampton ran in disables vacated area from the two yard line he went at the Eagle right side again and when win number 71 was pushed back gray drove over for the score [Music] the Falcons had regained the lead 27:20 but the Eagles have been known to come back before this time they couldn't do it however as Gabriel's first pass deflected off a receiver and was intercepted setting the Falcons up when the Eagle 21 the Eagles nearly got the break back the Hamptons fumble was ruled after the whistle and the Falcon Drive lived [Music] Lee helped keep the Atlanta Drive alive when he was nearly sacked by Harris but still gonna pass off to borough the play lost the yard but Lee had saved the eight or nine yards sack that can stall a drive two plays later he was passing again and Rae carried a screen to the one-yard line [Music] ray came up a yard short but on the next play Lee again attacked the right side of the eagle defense and Harmon wages got the score [Music] the Falcons now led by 14 points with 8 and 1/2 minutes to go but earlier in the season Gabriel had brought an eagle victory with two touchdowns in less than two minutes so the game was far from over but the Falcons were able to stop the Eagles again thanks in part to Mark Nordquist tackle on teammate Tom Bailey the Eagles were forced to punt their special teams which have been a problem for Philadelphia this season posed no problem for Ray Brown [Music] Browns 57-yard return left him winded but it's setup Nick Mickey Meyers 14th field goal in 15 tries in the Falcons recent win streak the competitive aspect was going out of the game as the Falcons had rushed to a 37 20 lead go out of it now Gabriel put on a display of why they call him the Messiah he is tough and strong in the pocket never gives up and using Carmichael as his chief weapon Gabriel lashed back on an isolated repeat we can see that the Falcons were in a zone as Brown falls off Carmichael leaving him for the middleman but Gabriel is very adept at hitting receivers in the seams between zones he did it here and a nice catch by Carmichael brought the Eagles of first down then Gabriel went back to his kung-fu strength routine and got enough time to seek out Tom Bailey for 19 yards and another first down [Music] finally Gabriel went back to Carmichael again mark Norquist number 68 got a good block on Mike Tillman and Gabriel now able to stand straight and tall in the pocket hit Carmichael with a perfect pass for the score [Music] the Eagles now trail 37:27 but their onsides kick failed and instead of the Eagles getting the score that they had hoped for Pat Sullivan replaced me at quarterback and hit burrow for his second touchdown of the day [Music] burro's cats brought the Falcons of 4427 lead the Eagles still had time for one more possession and fittingly the game ended with gabriel still trying to stretch up more points for the Eagles but Zimmerman's bobble was ruled an incomplete pass not a fumble and despite Carmichael being bogey on the spot his touchdown run did not count though they had gone down fighting the Eagles had gone down and their 4427 lost with lanta all but snuffed out any playoff hopes that had been dredged up by the Eagles recent strong showing but the Falcons now look like a very strong contender for the playoffs as their win streak stretches to five games quarterback Bob Lee has been the starter for all five wins it appears to be the answer to Atlanta's early season offensive problems the falcon defense though it gave up 27 points to the scrappy Eagles is tough too and this combination of potent offense and tough wood it has to be defense male and the Falcons a playoff appearance for the first time in their history [Music] you

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Id: TsNk09l8Z1o

Length: 21min 54sec (1314 seconds)

Published: Thu May 07 2020