Following the Atlanta Falcons’ first win of the Raheem Morris era, the group knows it has little time to celebrate.
Trailing by three points with 1:56 remaining in Philadelphia against the Eagles on Monday, Morris’ team was given a 0.7 percent chance of winning by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. After forcing a field goal, Kirk Cousins led a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped with a 7-yard game-winning touchdown to Drake London, giving the Falcons an improbable 22-21 win.
For the second time in two weeks, the Falcons will play on national television, as they host the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on “Sunday Night Football.”
“When you play in these big-time moments and big-time games, you’ve got to be ready to turn the page pretty quickly,” Morris told reporters on Tuesday. “You’ve got to be able to evaluate, and assess what happened the night before. We’ll go find out what we can do better and then start to look at our opponent that’s coming up in the Kansas City Chiefs, because you better be ready for those guys.”
In the first “Monday Night Football” appearance for Atlanta since 2020, and first win since 2018, new faces shined for the Falcons. Cousins threw for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns to help cement his first win in an Atlanta uniform.
At receiver, offseason additions Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud combined for six receptions totaling 130 yards and a score.
From the brink of starting the year 0-2, Atlanta’s comeback has given some relevance to a franchise searching for its first winning season and playoff appearance since 2017. Morris, 22-39 as a head coach in his career, saw a glimpse of what the Falcons can evolve into by year’s end.
“For me, it wasn’t as emotionally driven as it was for some of the players,” Morris said of the win. “But it pumps belief into them. … It creates an energy for these guys to be able to go out there knowing they can do anything at any time, like they proved (Monday) night.”
Atlanta, which will be underdogs for the second straight week, is playing on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” for the first time since 2019. The Falcons host the Chiefs for the first time since 2016, and are searching for their first win over Kansas City since Week 1, 2012.
–The Falcons signed inside linebacker Josh Woods to their practice squad on Tuesday.
Woods, 28, has played for three different teams since entering the NFL in 2019 and started seven of his 11 games with the Arizona Cardinals last season. He put up 61 tackles, one forced fumble and a half-sack for Arizona.
–Field Level Media
