Photo: Darius Slay Takes Blame for Eagles Loss, Praises Drake London on Game-Tying TD

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay took responsibility for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Drake London in the Atlanta Falcons' 22-21 upset of the Eagles on Monday night.

Slay told London, "Good route," after the wideout beat the veteran defensive back for a seven-yard touchdown with 34 seconds remaining. Slay later took to X to point the finger at himself, writing: "That's on me Philly!! I owe yall one. DAMN!!!!!"

With the loss, Philly fell to 1-1 on the season, and it has now lost seven of its past nine games dating back to last season, including the playoffs.

After scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 6:47 left in the game and then forcing a turnover on downs at Atlanta's 39-yard line, the Eagles appeared to be in firm control.

A methodical, 11-play drive ran nearly four minutes off the clock, but the Eagles weren't quite able to put the game away without giving the ball back to Atlanta.

After the Falcons used all three of their timeouts, the Eagles somewhat surprisingly passed the ball on a 3rd-and-3, and running back Saquon Barkley dropped a well-placed ball from quarterback Jalen Hurts, forcing Philadelphia to kick a field goal and extend its three-point lead to six.

Even though that gave the Falcons some life, it still seemed like a long shot that they would be able to go 70 yards and score a touchdown with 1:39 remaining and no timeouts.

After all, Atlanta scored only one touchdown in nearly four quarters of play before the drive, and Cousins was constantly under pressure by the Eagles' talented defensive line.

However, something clicked for the Atlanta offense in crunch time, as Cousins completing five of his six passing attempts on the drive, including chunk plays of 11, 21 and 26 yards to get into the red zone.

The Falcons got deep in Eagles territory so quickly that there was some thought they may even run the ball to force Philly to use timeouts, but offensive coordinator Zac Robinson kept it in the air, and Cousins hit London for what proved to be the go-ahead score after Younghoe Koo made the extra point.

Philadelphia's entire secondary got embarrassed on Atlanta's late touchdown drive, but much of the focus was on Slay for several reasons.

For starters, the 33-year-old has an impressive track record in the NFL with six Pro Bowl nods and one First Team All-Pro selection to his credit, including three straight Pro Bowls with the Eagles from 2021 to 2023.

Despite Slay's history of success, though, the Eagles ranked 31st in the NFL in passing yardage allowed in 2023.

The front office has invested heavily in the secondary over the past several years, signing Slay, cornerback James Bradberry and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to significant contracts, while using first- and second-round picks in the 2024 NFL draft on DB's Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.

None of that seemed to matter late in Monday's game, as the Eagles suffered yet another shocking loss, which is something that became a trend late last season.

Now, Slay and the Philadelphia secondary will be tested even more on the road in Week 3 against a New Orleans Saints team led by quarterback Derek Carr that is leading the NFL in scoring with a robust 45.5 points per game through two weeks.