Five Takeaways From Eagles Week 1 Loss vs. Falcons

Sep 14, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly congratulates Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) following the Falcons 26-24 win over the Eagles at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It was an unceremonious start to the 2015 Eagles season in primetime Monday night. Chip Kelly lost his first week one game, a contest his team was favored in, as an NFL coach. The Eagles joined the likes of a handful of teams whose expectations may have got the best of them entering the start of the season. By no means should Monday’s 26-24 loss cause fans to push the panic button, but one would have liked to have seen a more promising effort given all the buzz. For a team that shrugged off the potential issues of roster turnover, the Eagles looked the part of a group that needed to learn more about itself.

Before dipping in to what went wrong for the Eagles, Dan Quinn’s Atlanta Falcons put forth the type of effort that earned them a win. From one to 53, the Eagles had the edge in talent. That being said, there was little doubt as to which team looked the part of a winner Monday night, even when the Eagles took a late lead. Atlanta was fully aware of which areas of strength to maximize and did so just enough to pull out a home win and give Quinn a strong foundation to his coaching career.

The Eagles are not the first team to enter a season with colossal hype and lay somewhat of an egg in their opener. As a matter of fact, the Minnesota Vikings followed up the Eagles fizzle-pop with a stinker of their own on the road against a 49ers team that had seen far more turmoil than anything in Atlanta. The Colts were pushed around by the Buffalo Bills in a losing effort. The Seahawks let a win slip out of their fingers against the Rams. It’s possible the Eagles’ stumble might be more magnified given the nature of their offseason, but there’s no reason to start questioning what happened in the months leading up to 2015.

All that having been said there were areas of Monday’s contest that, if projected over the course of a 16-game season, could spell nightmare for the Eagles. Football is a game of adjustments. The coaching staff actually demonstrated fairly well that they could adapt in-game to shore up some of the issues plaguing the team. Whether they are capable of doing this on a week-to-week basis remains to be seen. Based solely off of the team’s performance on Monday night, these are some areas of concern that will hopefully be addressed by Kelly and company.