Joe Buck has seen it all during his masterful command of NFL games for more than three decades.
Well, almost everything.
The 55-year-old, now in his third season speaking with Troy Aikman on ESPN and ABC’s “Monday Night Football” since the two left their longtime jobs at Fox, had never before been so “surprised” at how a team collapsed so quickly as the Eagles did at home on Monday night, when the Falcons marched down the field on a six-play, 70-yard drive in 1:05 to take the lead with 34 seconds remaining and win, 22-21.
“I think you should salute the Atlanta Falcons,” Buck told ESPN's Scott Van Pelt during the postgame show. “I've been playing NFL games for 31 years, and I don't think I've ever been as shocked by how a game ended as I was tonight. It was all like a landslide with Philly.”
The landslide began when Saquon Barkley, who left the Giants in free agency this year and signed a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the Eagles, dropped a pass on third-and-3 at the Atlanta 10-yard line with a clear path to pick up a first down.
The decision to pass was controversial, as the Falcons had run out of timeouts and the Eagles could have taken full advantage of the timeout, but Barkley had a chance to end the game.
Instead, Jake Elliott kicked a 28-yard field goal to put Philly ahead 21–15.
Kirk Cousins then engineered the game-winning drive, going 5-of-6 for 70 yards and finishing it with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Drake London.
London was then flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after he apparently celebrated with the gun, causing kicker Younghoe Koo to miss a 48-yard extra point attempt, which he converted to put Atlanta ahead.
Jalen Hurts threw an interception on the second play of the Eagles' possession that ended the game.
Buck also mentioned a questionable decision by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni in the first quarter that helped lead to the loss, when he tried on fourth down and 4 on the Atlanta 9-yard line with the game tied 0–0, and Hurts threw an incomplete pass intended for Dallas Goedert on a broken play.
,[Aikman] “My brother and I were looking at each other, it looked like a chip-shot field goal was decided, but they went for it,” Buck said. “It's a different time in the league.”
The Eagles (1-1) will visit the Saints (2-0) on Sunday, while the Falcons (1-1) will host the Chiefs (2-0) on “Sunday Night Football.”