Sep 16, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London (5) catches a touchdown pass in front of Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay Jr. (2) during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
The next few days in the Philadelphia sports media ecosystem will likely come down to assigning blame for the Eagles' shocking late-game loss to the Atlanta Falcons to one of three people: Nick Sirianni, Saquon Barkley or Jalen Hurts.
But a "none of the above" option has emerged, as veteran cornerback Darius Slay took to Twitter postgame to put the blame on himself:
That’s on me Philly!! I owe yall one. DAMN!!!!!
Slay was burned by Falcons' wideout Drake London on what proved to be the game-winning touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins:
DRAKE JUST DID THAT
ESPN | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/k7BjeVEFdt
Clearly, the 33-year-old Slay was made to look silly on this play by London, a former first-round pick with immense talent that the Falcons are hoping emerges as a legitimate No. 1 target this year. It wasn't a good look for Slay, but a go-ahead touchdown felt inevitable after the Falcons marched down the field on Vic Fangio's defense, which was unable to generate any pass rush for most of the night. If Slay is in the top five of people worth blaming for this loss, he's much closer to five than one.
After the game, Slay gave London credit for cooking him on the route he ran on the game-winning touchdown:
"Good route. Good route."
Darius Slay showed love to Drake London after he beat him on the route to give the Falcons the win 😤 pic.twitter.com/i7GBFihJ4g
Surely, there will be someone worked up tomorrow about Slay's demeanor in this conversation, with said person likely to point out that Chuck Bednarik or Reggie White wouldn't have been chummy with the opponent after a crushing defeat. That may be true, but it is what it is. Players today work out with each other in the offseason and are able to create friendships across the sport through social media. Slay is a big fan of the sport, as you'll notice by his Twitter activity commending other players when the Eagles aren't playing. If you want someone who will work themselves into a fake outrage about that, On Pattison might not be your place.
