Stephen A. Smith Rips Eagles after Collapse vs. Falcons

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith put the Philadelphia Eagles on blast for blowing a six-point lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons.

Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The two former NFL players on ESPN's "First Take" panel, Jeff Saturday and Shannon Sharpe, argued the Atlanta Falcons won the Monday Night Football matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. But ESPN's Stephen A. Smith was adament that the Eagles lost it.

The crux of Smith's argument was Philadelphia's repeated blown leads late in the fourth quarter of games over the last year and a crazy NextGen Stat.

"The Falcons had a 0.77% chance of winning the damn football game with a minute and 56 seconds left in the fourth quarter," Smith said. "0.7%."

'Y'all going to sit up here and talk about Atlanta won the game. Y'all are not going to put that onus on the Philadelphia Eagles? I'm sorry. I'm not doing that.

"They had the game in their hands, okay, and they blew it, which is something that they've been doing a little bit more regularly than we suspected."

Since the start of the 2023 season, the Eagles have lost four games with a blown lead late in the fourth quarter. Including the playoffs, they are 2-7 in their last nine games, and in three of those losses, the Eagles allowed the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of regulation.

On Monday, the Eagles needed to only convert a third-and-3 after the 2-minute warning to essentially end the game. The Falcons didn't have any timeouts remaining.

But Eagles running back Saquon Barkley dropped a pass on that third-down attempt. The Eagles added a field goal on fourth down, but the Falcons scored a touchdown on their next drive to take a 1-point lead. Atlanta held on to win 22-21.

Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 5 of 6 passes for 70 yards on the game-winning drive. He found receiver Drake London for a 5-yard touchdown pass, and Younghoe Koo kicked the extra point for the lead.

Whether or not Falcons fans buy into Smith's argument is largely irrelevant. The Falcons came away from Philadelphia with a much-needed win to avoid an 0-2 hole.