We waited 9 months for that?

Season openers carry the weight of the world with them due to all the waiting and the build up of excitement and curiosity. Every play is magnified. The outcome is huge.

So when the Eagles look awful for a half and lose the opener, it is tough to stay level-headed.

Some context can make a big difference.

Last year the Eagles won the opener 34-17. That sounds good, but you have to go deeper. They hosted the Jaguars, who featured Chad Henne at QB, Toby Gerhart at RB and a slew of rookies at WR. The Jags built up a 17-0 lead at the half before the Eagles dominated the 2nd half and won the game. Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher struggled. The starting WRs (Allen Hurns, Marqise Lee) combined to go 10-172-3. In their debut.

The Eagles scored 3 TDs on fluky plays and had the other TD drive start at the Jags 40-yard line. Nick Foles threw a bad INT in the end zone. The Eagles struggled to establish the run game. Zach Ertz was the only receiver who stood out.

All of this and the Eagles were at home playing against a team coming off a 4-12 season.

Compare that to last night.

The Eagles lost 26-24. They were torched by Julio Jones and Roddy White for 13-225-2. That’s arguably the top WR duo in the league. QB Matt Ryan is incredibly difficult to beat in Atlanta. He is now 8-0 in home openers and has a great overall record in the Georgia Dome.

Atlanta was up 20-3 at the half and really controlled that part of the game. It wasn’t luck or bad officiating. They controlled the line of scrimmage. They made plays. The Eagles were sloppy and looked bad.

The Eagles turned the tables after halftime and outscored the Falcons 21-6. There was one short TD, set up by a beautiful INT by Walter Thurmond. The other TD drives covered 95 and 80 yards. The Eagles weren’t lucky at all. They had to overcome penalties, some of which were questionable. Those were long, tough drives.

The Eagles then got the ball back, again at their own 20, where they seemed to start every drive. They marched to the Falcons 26-yard line where the drive stalled. Cody Parkey had a 44-yard attempt to take the lead. And he missed.

Ugh.

But again…think about the two openers. The Eagles won last year. In retrospect, there were some real issues that would plague the team all year. The Eagles got lucky that they were playing a bad team and had the benefit of being at home. Did you see anything that day that really got your attention? The TD run up the middle by Darren Sproles was terrific, but it also looked like the parting of the Red Sea. The entire middle of the field was wide open. Jeremy Maclin had a 68-yard TD, but there wasn’t anyone within 15 yards of him.

There were actually more positives to come out of last night’s game, despite the fact it was a loss. Sam Bradford was 21-25-219 in the 2nd half. He really got on a roll. The team was down 17 on the road to a veteran QB. They took control of the game and actually took the lead in the 4th quarter. Kiko Alonso had a great INT. Walter Thurmond had a great INT. The Eagles executed well in the Red Zone, going 3 for 4.

The biggest thing for me is that the Eagles were really challenged. And they responded. I know the Falcons went 6-10 last year, but that might be a playoff team this year. They looked good. The Falcons played hard. They were aggressive and physical. They’ve still got some talent issues, but the new coaching staff has made a difference with them.

Being down 17 to Chad Henne and coming back at home is very different from being down 17 to Matt Ryan and a rejuvenated Falcons team on the road. This year’s result was a loss, but I was impressed enough with what I saw in the 2nd half to still feel good about this team.

* * * * *

The biggest concern for me is the lack of a running game. Darren Sproles was 5-50. Ryan Mathews was 3-4. DeMarco Murray was 8-9. Ugh, ugh and ugh. That’s not good.

It did look like the Falcons were crowding the line of scrimmage so the Eagles did the smart thing and started throwing the ball. Still, that’s not a good day on the ground. The offensive line has got to play better. I need to study the game to see what was going on.

I did like the fact that Bradford and Kelly fed the ball to the RBs in the passing game. You need to get those guys touches. They were 14-111 as receivers. And there were a couple of nice gains on screen passes that got called back.

* * * * *

What do we make of the Cody Parkey situation right now?

Chip Kelly says all the right things. The one FG he did hit looked good. I’m not sure what happened on the miss. I don’t think the Eagles need to panic yet, but Parkey needs to get on a hot streak. Another miss or two any time soon and the team will have to start looking at other kickers.

_