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Divisional Round - Atlanta Falcons v Philadelphia Eagles
Abbie Parr | Getty Images
By Matt Lombardo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
PHILADELPHIA -- Fueled by the anger of being deemed the first No. 1 seed in NFL history to begin the NFL Playoffs as an underdog, the Eagles rallied and put forth a complete team effort to oust the Atlanta Falcons 15-10 and advance to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 2009.
Quarterback Nick Foles and the offense out-gained quarterback Matt Ryan, wide receiver Julio Jones, and the high-powered Falcons 334 yards to 281 but afterwards some players felt like the effort would need to improve next Sunday in the NFC Championship Game against either the New Orleans Saints or Minnesota Vikings.
Running back Jay Ajayi led the Eagles with 54 rushing yards, but lost a fumble on the second snap of the game, which the Falcons converted into a 33-yard Matt Bryant field goal.
'I feel like I played poorly,' Ajayi admitted. 'Obviously the fumble on the first carry, I can't do that in a big game. I dropped a pass. I feel like I could have executed better. It was a great team win today, a lot of my teammates picked up the slack, defense stepped up, other running backs made some big plays. I just think coming in next week, I need to play better.'
If the Eagles are going to hold serve and beat either the Vikings or Saints next week, there are several areas in which they must improve. Here's a look:
Divisional Round - Atlanta Falcons v Philadelphia Eagles
Mitchell Leff | Getty Images
1) Eliminate turnovers
The Eagles' margin for error is razor thin with Foles at quarterback in the playoffs, particularly against either the stifling Vikings' defense or electric Saints' offense, which makes protecting the football omnipotent next week.
Saturday night the Eagles survived two turnovers (a Jay Ajayi fumble on the second snap of the game, and a muffed punt), to win the game 15-10. However, had it not been for Matt Ryan's fourth down pass from the two-yard line going off the fingertips of Julio Jones in the back of the end zone, those two turnovers would likely be viewed as a critical reason for why the Eagles lost the game.
To Ajayi's credit, he ran hard and with a purpose for the rest of the game and seemed to be extra diligent about protecting the football on every subsequent carry.
If the Eagles play a turnover free game, it would certainly be a significant boost for Foles and the offense next Sunday.
NFL: NFC Divisional Playoff-Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles
James Lang
2) Create more turnovers as a defense
The Eagles finished the regular season with the with the NFC's best turnover ratio, at +11, but failed to register a takeaway against the Falcons on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, New Orleans finished the season with a giveaway/takeaway ratio of (+7), and Minnesota's (+5). The Eagles finished the regular season 1-3 in games where they lost the turnover battle but were a perfect 10-0 in games in which they forced at least one turnover.
Saturday proved just how valuable the defense is towards the Eagles' Super Bowl run at this point without Wentz, but creating takeaways would go a long way towards solidifying their chances of getting to Minneapolis.
Divisional Round - Atlanta Falcons v Philadelphia Eagles
Mitchell Leff | Getty Images
3) More consistent play from Nick Foles
Nick Foles deserves plenty of credit for doing just enough to win Saturday's game, but even more credit for orchestrating a field goal drive in the waning moments of the first half and marching the Eagles 74 yards down the field leading to a 37-yard Jake Elliott field goal with :15 remaining in the third quarter.
Foles was 5-for-7 on the third quarter drive for 70 yards, including three completions to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.
However, in the first half, Foles was only 11-for-15 passing for 101 yard sand was sacked once. By game's end, Foles had completed 23 of his 30 attempts for 246 yards and a passer rating of 100.1.
Particularly if the Eagles' draw the Saints and get lured into a track meet, Foles will need to be more consistent on Sunday than he was on Saturday, because 15 points is unlikely to be enough to get the job done.
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from Sports - Google News http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2018/01/what_eagles_need_to_fix_for_nfc_championship_game.html
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