NFL Recap (Philadelphia-Atlanta)
Posted: Sun December 14, 1997 at 8:05 p.m. EST
ATLANTA 20, PHILADELPHIA 17
Morten Andersen kicked his 25th career game-winning field goal,
a 33-yarder as time expired, as the surging Atlanta Falcons won
their fifth straight game, 20-17 over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Andersen's second field goal of the game capped a five-play,
61-yard drive and was the 374th of his career, moving him past
Jan Stenerud into third place on the all-time list.
Running back Harold Green caught a screen pass from Chris
Chandler and rambled 47 yards through the defense to the Eagles
18-yard line, setting up the kick.
"I'm tired of losing," Eagles coach Ray Rhodes said. "I'm tired
of getting beat. This one hurts a lot because we started out
moving the ball. We fought our way back into the game and then
all of a sudden they throw a screen pass and we had about seven
missed tackles."
"We thought they would be in some type of zone and we were gonna
scramble, but they blitzed off that side," Atlanta coach Dan
Reeves said. "Jamal Anderson did a great job of picking up the
blitz. (Bob) Whitfield and (Robbie) Tobeck were out in front
and led him. It looked like he had a piano on his back at about
the 35. I used to have that piano and I know what it feels
like."
Andersen booted a 21-yard field goal 2:21 into the final period
to extend Atlanta's lead to 17-7, but Philadelphia (6-8-1),
which was eliminated from playoff contention, rallied to tie it.
The Falcons (7-8) have erased a 1-7 start by winning six of
their last seven games. Andersen's kick kept alive their slim
playoff hopes, which were dashed moments later when the Detroit
Lions rallied for a 14-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
"From a coaching standpoint, the most rewarding thing throughout
the whole losing streak is that the group in there never quit,"
Reeves said. "They fought hard and worked hard. Everything you
could ask them to do, they did. They're seeing the rewards of
hard work."
Chandler threw for one touchdown and Anderson ran for another as
Atlanta built a 17-7 advantage. But Ricky Watters' one-yard TD
run with 7:48 left in the game drew Philadelphia to within 17-14
and Chris Boniol nailed a 39-yard field goal with 1:55 to play.
Philadelphia got out to an early lead. After taking the opening
kickoff, the Eagles marched 89 yards in 11 plays, culminating
with Bobby Hoying's three-yard touchdown pass to Michael Timpson
for a 7-0 advantage.
Watters ran for 56 yards on the drive, including a 27-yard run
on 3rd-and-3 that moved the ball to the Atlanta 44. Hoying also
added an eight-yard pass to fullback Kevin Turner on 3rd-and-6
which put the ball at the 6.
"After that first drive, we felt like we should have just
dominated," Hoying said. "I felt like we were going to have a
big day offensively and we turned around and struggled for three
quarters. We got something going in the latter part of the
game, but too little too late."
Philadelphia came in with the NFC's second-best pass offense,
racking up 233.4 yards per game. But Atlantas' defense limited
Hoying to 16-of-34 for 180 yards. Freddie Solomon had a pair of
catches for 64 yards for the Eagles.
The Falcons knotted the contest 3:56 into the second quarter on
Chandler's 10-yard scoring strike to rookie Byron Hanspard, who
set up the TD by breaking off a 53-yard run to the 28. The
81-yard drive consumed just three plays and 86 seconds.
Anderson went around left end for a two-yard touchdown and a
14-7 lead just 2:36 into the second half. The 38-yard drive was
set up by defensive end Lester Archambeau's interception.
Atlanta dominated the third quarter, holding the ball for 12:13.
Chandler completed 12-of-21 passes for 210 yards. Terance
Mathis had four catches for 57 yards. Anderson led the ground
attack with 78 yards on 21 carries and Hanspard contributed 76
yards on just five carries.
Watters' TD capped a seven-play, 71-yard drive, highlighted by a
53-yard pass from Hoying to Solomon. It was Watters' 11th
touchdown in seven career games against the Falcons. He had 95
yards on 15 carries and caught four passes for 35 yards as he
scored for the seventh straight game overall.
Philadelphia missed a chance to take the lead on the play before
Boniol's game-tying field goal. Atlanta cornerback Ronnie
Bradford knocked the ball out of Timpson's hands, preventing the
potential go-ahead TD.
Boniol increased his career field-goal percentage to 82.9, the
best all-time for anyone with 100 or more attempts.
The Falcons have won 23 of their last 26 games when holding
opponents under 20 points. Atlanta evened the all-time series
at 9-9-1.
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