PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Eagles overcame a controversial non-call in the fourth quarter Sunday to top the Atlanta Falcons 24-15 and keep their season’s hopes alive.

The apparent turning point came early in the fourth quarter with the Eagles trailing by two. Facing a third-and-12 at the Atlanta 36-yard line, rookie quarterback Carson Wentz fired a pass over the middle for receiver Jordan Matthews. Safety Keanu Neal appeared to launch helmet-first and hit Matthews in the face mask as the ball tumbled to the turf, but the referees did not throw a flag. An irate Lincoln Financial Field crowd rained down boos while Matthews labored to get off the turf. The Eagles were forced to settle for a 55-yard field-goal attempt by Caleb Sturgis that fell short.

"Yes, I definitely think it was a penalty," said Matthews. "My helmet was bent. I had to get a new face mask. I had to change out my face mask and my visor. I don't know what they saw, but at the end of the day we got the win, so I will take a bloody lip if we get a win."

Eagles running back Ryan Mathews scored two touchdowns against the Falcons. Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

But the defense, which kept the most prolific offense in football in check for most of the day, stood up and forced a three-and-out, allowing Wentz (25-of-36, 231 yards) to lead a scoring drive that Ryan Mathews capped with his second touchdown of the contest to put the Eagles in front for good.

In the wake of the Eagles’ loss to the New York Giants last week -- the team’s fourth in five games -- safety Malcolm Jenkins laid out the recipe needed for the Eagles to have success over the second half of the season.

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“We have to stay patient on offense, stingy on defense, aggressive on special teams,” he told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

The Eagles rode that formula to their fourth home win in as many tries. Coach Doug Pederson re-established the ground game, as Mathews (19 carries, 108 yards) became the first Eagles running back to go over 100 yards since DeMarco Murray in October 2015. That ball-control style of attack limited the number of chances for Matt Ryan and the Falcons’ top-rated offense. Jim Schwartz’s defense held an Atlanta attack that averaged an NFL-high 34 points per game to just one touchdown, as Ryan was hit six times and sacked twice while completing just 55 percent of his passes.

"We've got to get comfortable in these close games, especially against good teams like the Falcons," said Jenkins. "We're not going to just steamroll everybody. It just comes down to not getting sloppy, not turning the football over and just staying patient. Because our special teams are playing lights-out right now with the return game, our defense is battling and our offense is really moving the ball. If we can run the ball like we did today, that's going to travel well. So we've got to continue to fine-tune it, continue to eliminate the mistakes, and keep this thing rolling."

With the win, the Eagles improved to 5-4 to stay relevant in the NFC race with a trip to Seattle up next.