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Falcons' Julio Jones beats Eagles with 54-yard TD catch

By Alex Butler
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has 137 yards and three touchdowns on 11 catches through two weeks of the 2019 season. File Photo by AJ Sisco/UPI.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has 137 yards and three touchdowns on 11 catches through two weeks of the 2019 season. File Photo by AJ Sisco/UPI. | License Photo

Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Julio Jones caught a short pass and ran for a game-winning 54-yard touchdown to lead the Atlanta Falcons to a dramatic Week 2 win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jones stunned the Eagles with 2:20 remaining in the 24-20 win Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Falcons had the ball on their own 46 yard line during the sequence. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan took the 4th-and-3 snap and threw a quick pass to Jones on a screen route on the left flank.

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Jones snatched the pass and immediately turned up the field. He picked up huge blocks from Jake Matthews and Mohamed Sanu before scorching down the sideline and outrunning Eagles defenders.

"Mohamed threw a great block for me," Jones said in his postgame interview. "Without that, that play wouldn't even be possible for me to score. Once he sprung me and it was one on one with the safety -- [it was] a footrace. I have credit around here. I couldn't let anybody run me down."

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Quarterback Carson Wentz marched the Eagles down the field on the next possession, but Philadelphia turned the ball over on downs with 38 seconds remaining.

Jones had 106 yards and two scores on five catches for the Falcons. Fellow wide receiver Calvin Ridley had eight grabs for 105 yards and a score. Ryan completed 27 of 43 passes for 320 yards, three scores and three interceptions. Wentz completed 25 of 43 passes for 231 yards, a score and two interceptions. Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor had eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

"Julio in space is the best receiver in the game," Ryan said. "It was a great call at the right time. Just what we needed. For an up and down game, I was proud of the way everybody battled. We made the play when we needed to."

The Eagles (1-1) and Falcons (1-1) exchanged field goals to start the game before Ryan found Ridley for a touchdown in the second quarter. Philadelphia got another Jake Elliott field goal at the end of the first half and trailed 10-6 at halftime. Ryan found Jones for his first touchdown catch of the game on the Falcons' first drive of the second half. Wentz answered by connecting with Agholor on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter.

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The Eagles took a 20-17 lead on a Wentz rushing score with 3:16 remaining, before the Falcons got the last word on Jones' second touchdown grab.

Jones became the Falcons' all-time leading receiver on the touchdown. He now has 10,868 career receiving yards. The score was also the 300th career touchdown pass for Ryan.

The Eagles host the Detroit Lions at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The Falcons face the Indianapolis Colts at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

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