The first week of the 2015 NFL season is winding down with two games taking place tonight. The Philadelphia Eagles will be traveling to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. The Minnesota Vikings will be headed to the west coast to face the San Francisco 49ers.
Star running back Adrian Peterson will be back on the field for the Vikings after his suspension last season.
The 49ers have had major changes not only with their roster but with the coaching staff and this Monday brings a lot of “firsts” for the team. This will be the first regular season game for 49ers new head coach Jim Tomsula as he takes over for Jim Harbaugh. Similarly it will be the first time that a Monday Night Football game will be played from Levis Stadium. San Fransico’s defense will have to prove itself after the unit lost four players to retirement in addition to star pas rusher Aldon Smith.
On the East Coast The Atlanta Falcons will host the Eagles. The Falcons will kick off the new Sam Bradford era tonight in the Georgia Dome. Tonight will also mark the long anticipated one-on-one match up between Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones and Eagles corner Byron Maxwell.
Jones knows his team is preparing for a tough Monday night match up.
“We don’t want to be up and down this year. We’re going to be flat and were going to be consistent. We’re just preparing like its the biggest game because it’s the next game.”
Chip Kelly made a lot of changes to the Eagles roster in the off season. So far the preseason has shown that the Eagles coach made all the right moves as Philadelphia dominated the preseason. He believes in his new roster but respects Atlanta as well.
“There’s a lot of good players down there, so its going to be a big match up. We’re going to try and get to Matt (Ryan, Falcons QB) so we can get the ball out of his hands a little bit quicker then he probably hopes to get it out. But it depends on how their protection can hold up versus our rush and then how does our coverage hold up against some very talented receivers.”
Philadelphia at Atlanta kicks off tonight at 6:55PM
Minnesota will take on San Francisco at 10:15PM
For audio from the above quotes see below:
Chip Kelly on match up against Falcons
Julio Jones on playing consistently