Pair of Eagles special teamers find redemption

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Bryan Braman didn't hang his head and he didn't try to force anything. He was just hoping he'd get a chance for redemption.

He did.

After Braman dove and touched a live ball on the previous punt in the second quarter Saturday, allowing the Falcons to punch in their only touchdown of the divisional round playoff game, Braman was back on the field for another punt.

This time, he broke through the line and got his outstretched hand on the football, forcing a 22-yard punt.

"Considering I was looked at as the reason we turned it over down there low in the red zone, it was big for me," Braman said after the Eagles' 15-10 win. "I was able to keep my head in the game and turn it around after what happened earlier in the game.

"It led to three points before we went into the half. It was definitely important for us to take advantage of everything we can. Whether it was just a couple yards from the tip, it changed the flight of the ball and caused it to not travel as far as we could."

After Braman was initially called for running into the kicker, he began telling the officials he tipped the ball, which would negate the penalty. The video replay showed he was right.

The veteran special teamer made up for his earlier blunder and he did it without forcing it.

"I couldn't think too much about having to make up for it," he said. "I just had to let it go and continue to do my job. There are some things you can't control. That was a freak thing. There's nothing I could do about that. If I were to let it affect me, then I start reaching. That's when other bad things start to happen."

The Eagles got the ball at their 28-yard line and were able to drive 37 yards to set up a 53-yard field goal from Jake Elliott. He nailed it and the Eagles cut the lead to 10-9, taking some momentum into halftime.

"That was huge," head coach Doug Pederson said. "Just to be able to get down there with — we're out of timeouts, Nick [Foles] to Alshon [Jeffery] on the sideline was huge to get us into that field goal range. … It was great to get momentum with our defense coming back out to start the second half."

It wasn't just Braman who got some redemption. Elliott did, too. The rookie kicker missed an extra point early in the second quarter but drilled the 53-yarder, his first of three consecutive field goals.

His 53-yarder was the longest in Eagles playoff history and was the longest ever by a rookie in the playoffs.

"Obviously, I missed the previous one so I wanted to bounce back better," Elliott said, "and I'm glad we had that opportunity."

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