Even with an exciting finish eerily similar to last January's playoff game Victor Mete Jersey , this was pretty much a forgetful opener to the NFL season.

Even with another Philly Special, there wasn't a whole lot to cheer about in the Eagles' 18-12 victory over the Falcons on Thursday night.

And even with a weather delay featuring some lightning before the Eagles and their fans could celebrate the unveiling of the banner for their first championship since 1960, this wasn't exactly a sparkling display of football.

You can credit two pretty staunch defenses if you want. Yet despite neither team reaching 300 yards in total offense, neither D was dynamic because plays were there to be made. The offenses rarely could do so.

And then there were the penalties. Altogether, 30 points were scored 鈥?and two teams expected to contend for the NFL title compiled 26 penalties. It's never a good sign when flags nearly equal points.

Hey, the Super Bowl champions gained 232 yards and gave away 101 in penalties. Atlanta, which must think there are hot coals lining the red zone at the Linc, gained 299 but had 135 yards in penalties.

"This stings for sure," said Falcons coach Dan Quinn, who certainly knows that feeling after the Super Bowl collapse two seasons back against New England, and then last winter's divisional playoff loss here that ended almost exactly the same way as Thursday night's defeat. "We knew this would be a competitive fight that would come down to the end Milan Lucic Jersey Kids , and it did."

Competitive? For sure.

Classic? Not even close.

"It wasn't pretty, it was sloppy," All-Pro tackle Lane Johnson said. "But at the end we got a win."

What NFL fans got ultimately might be an indictment of the preseason.

In Julio Jones' case, it's simple to say, "Who needs it?"

Jones didn't play a down in August, but he was unstoppable against a Philadelphia defense that handled everyone else, especially the scatter-shot arm of Matt Ryan. While local native Ryan once again was struggling at the Linc, Jones still managed to make 10 receptions for 169 yards. Only when Atlanta got within the Eagles 20-yard line did Jones not dominate 鈥?in great part because Ryan kept making misguided throws.

Frankly, while Jones seemed to be in all-world form, Ryan 鈥?a virtual non-participant in the exhibition games 鈥?looked rusty.

The Eagles weren't a whole lot better. Other than their opportunism and some creativity, they also were plagued by mistakes on both sides of the ball.

Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles caught another pass; it didn't score a touchdown as the quarterback did against the Patriots Youth John Moore Jersey , but it set up one of Jay Ajayi's two TD runs. That was fun.

But the dropped passes, including some potential interceptions, and silly errors such as a blocker on the punt team letting the ball touch his foot, looked like something straight out of, well, an exhibition game.

"It wasn't a rhythmic game but we fought hard and did the job," Foles said. "Winning isn't easy, especially against Atlanta. It was a dogfight. Our defense did a great job."

If this is a harbinger of what the other openers might look like on Sunday and Monday, fans might want to juggle their viewing schedules. Remember, virtually every team preserved regulars for the games that count. Unfortunately, that just might mean counting the number of flags that fly and errors that occur from Miami to Minneapolis Mark Scheifele Jersey , from Detroit to Denver, more so than the touchdowns going up on the scoreboard.

"We made a ton of mistakes today," safety Malcolm Jenkins noted. "But every time we got out there, we dealt with the situation. If we made mistakes, we moved on and we tried to win the situation."

The Eagles did, displaying the kind of resilience that helped them to last season's title. The Falcons flopped again in a tight spot, though it's inconceivable such a talented group will continue to get in its own way like this again.

"It just came down to closing really," Atlanta cornerback Desmond Trufant said.

This was one opening show that artistically deserved to close after one night.

The Tennessee Titans keep wrapping up their own players with defensive lineman DaQuan Jones the latest to reach agreement on a new deal keeping him on the roster.

The Titans announced Wednesday that they have agreed on a multi-year deal with Jones after reaching a new deal to keep right guard Josh Kline and signing defensive end David King to a one-year deal earlier in the day.

Tennessee also announced they tendered a contract to left guard Quinton Spain, a restricted free agent.

Financial terms on the deals were not released.

A fourth-round pick out of Penn State in 2014, Jones has started 45 of his 51 games, and the 6-foot-4 Mikkel Boedker Jersey , 322-pound lineman was playing his best with a career-high 3 sacks before tearing a bicep that put him on injured reserve Dec. 4 .

General manager Jon Robinson claimed Kline off waivers from New England in September 2016. Kline has started 30 games at right guard for Tennessee on a line that allowed the third fewest sacks (63) and blocked for the third most rushing yards (4,020) in the NFL.

An undrafted free agent from Kent State, Kline started 18 of 33 games in New England and won the 2015 Super Bowl.

The Titans agreed to terms Tuesday with a pair of former Patriots . The deals with cornerback Malcolm Butler and running back Dion Lewis will be signed once free agency begins.

Spain, undrafted out of West Virginia, has started 33 of his 35 games played over the past three seasons for the Titans.

King signed a one-year deal after being poised to become an exclusive rights free agent after playing seven games with four tackles and a sack for Tennessee. The Titans picked him up last September in a trade with Kansas City, and King was a seventh-round pick by Philadelphia in 2013 out of Oklahoma.

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