The Atlanta Falcons took down the Philadelphia Eagles 24-20 on Sunday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and it ultimately came down to the fact that the Falcons have Julio Jones and the Eagles don’t.
Jones had five catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns, with both of the scores coming in the second half.
The first touchdown was an easy goal-line touchdown in the third quarter for the beastly 6’3″, 220-pounder.
jUliO joNES DoeSN'T scoRE tOUCHdOWNS pic.twitter.com/TLvMxXj2HA
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 16, 2019
But the second touchdown came with the game on the line, and showed off the absurd speed and athleticism he pairs with his big body.
On 4th-and-3 with the Falcons trailing 20-17 and just over two minutes remaining, Jones took a Matt Ryan screen pass 54 yards to the house in what would serve as a game-winning touchdown.
JULIO JONES CANNOT BE CONTAINED pic.twitter.com/tsdOVvmHa1
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) September 16, 2019
Julio Jones hit a staggering 20 MPH 💨 on that catch-and-run for six.#NextGenStats, powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/ikyf4nAAfC
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 16, 2019
Julio Jones reached a max speed of 20.70 MPH on his go-ahead 54-yard Rec TD, according to @NextGenStats.
That's his 3rd-fastest max speed as a ball carrier on a scoring play since Next Gen has tracked it starting in 2016. pic.twitter.com/EtqNZ0Nh4p
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 16, 2019
The all-time receiving leader in franchise history.
JULIOOOOOOOOOOO. pic.twitter.com/ftgrnLzr0M
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 16, 2019
Last week, Jones signed a three-year, $66 million contract (with $64 million in guarantees), making him the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver on average ($22 million per year). He quickly showed that he’s very deserving of that contract with his game-changing performance on Sunday Night Football.