PHILADELPHIA >> Doug Pederson began pumping a fist in celebration during the second of three kneel-downs by Nick Foles, the Eagles killing the last minute of their first postseason victory in four years.

That was as artistic as it got in the Birds’ 15-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional playoffs Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.

There were too many bumps along the way, the Eagles losing two of four fumbles, their kicker missing another PAT attempt, for the game film to be sent to Canton.

Just the same, there was redemption not only for Nick Foles, whose cleats from his epic seven-touchdown game are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but for Pederson, who has done little more than back up Hall of Famers.

Pederson pressed most of the right buttons, including the decision to play the underdog deal to the hilt to get the Eagles over the top.

The head coach made it clear when the Eagles knew their opponent would be Atlanta that the Eagles, the first No. 1 seed to be a playoff ’dog, would be aggressive. Throwing the football into the 21 mph breeze blowing in from Broad Street on the first play from scrimmage to Torrey Smith also was stubborn. But oh, by the way, the 42-yard pass interference penalty Smith drew set the tone for the day.

“We talked about the play last night, what we were going to do,” offensive tackle Lane Johnson said. “We knew it was coming. It wasn’t a catch but it was pass interference. Big play. Doug did a really good job. The element of surprise with the misdirection, something they haven’t seen. I think it gets people shook a little bit until they have time to fix it. Excellent game plan and then we went out and executed.”

In that case, the Eagles let referee Billy Vinovich’s crew execute. Don’t take that the wrong way. The striped shirts weren’t the reason the Falcons lost. They weren’t the reason Matt Ryan bounced a throw off the hands of Julio Jones in the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the Eagles’ 2 in the final minute, Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills bodied up the bigger receiver. Jones stumbled. Some would say he was pushed.

“We were fighting,” Mills said. “It got physical at the top of the route. But the refs let us play and that’s what you want. You can’t ask for nothing else in a playoff game.”

Jones, for the record, didn’t complain.

“I ended up on the ground,” Jones said. “It is very difficult for an official to call that play in that situation.”

The Falcons had only themselves to blame. And the will of the Eagles, who inched within a victory of the Super Bowl.

The Eagles’ play-calling was exotic, from the misdirection on Nelson Agholor’s 21-yard jet sweep setting up the Eagles’ only TD of the first half, to Foles’ ricochet pass off the kneecap of a defender to Smith, for a 20-yard gain to help set up a field goal at the end of the first half. You can’t make the stuff up.

“That,” center Jason Kelce said of the fortunate bounce, “is our old safety flea flicker.”

Entering the game, the Eagles converted just 9 of 41 (21.9 percent) third downs since Carson Wentz was injured. They were 6-for-13 (46 percent), running back Jay Ajayi cashing in three of them, the longest off a 32-yard screen pass.

While Foles said the wind wasn’t a factor, his receivers said otherwise. Ditto the halftime act. The Frisbee catching dogs were so out of sorts, the plastic discs spinning this way and that, the act ended early.

The day began harshly for the Eagles. After Foles threw deep into the wind, the ball twisting, turning and almost ending up on Darien Street, Ajayi fumbled the ball away on his first carry, at the 26-yard line of the Falcons. The Falcons got a field goal out of it.

The Eagles forced a fumble later in the first half, which replays confirmed. Linebacker Nigel Bradham couldn’t get Pederson’s attention to throw the challenge flag.

Pederson bounced back by making good use of his timeouts on what would be the final possession of the second quarter, Alshon Jeffery doing a toe-tap on the sideline for a 15-yard completion to set up a 53-yard field goal by rookie Jake Elliott, pulling the Eagles within 10-9.

Earlier, the Eagles’ TD was set up by a freaky play.

On third-and-goal at the Falcons 3, Agholor, coming around on the jet sweep, crashed into Foles. That put the ball on the ground for the third time in three possessions. Foles picked it up and almost snaked into the end zone for what the officials called a TD. The play was ruled down at the one-yard line after the review.

It only delayed the inevitable. LeGarrette Blount, who played the entire second quarter, scored on a one-yard sweep, tight end Trey Burton, playing fullback, springing his teammate with a tenacious seal block.

Elliott, however, missed his fourth point-after of the season, leaving the Eagles with a scant 6-3 lead.

As poorly as the Eagles played, they moved on.

And they knew they were going to do so.

In a players meeting last week. a video was shown highlighting all of the so-called experts who had picked against the “underdog” Eagles.

“They showed a clip of someone dogging us,” Brandon Graham said of an NFL Network talking head. “It was just a good feeling to know that a lot of guys who were talking, who never played, we shut those boys up. Everybody was going for Atlanta, and they’re a good team. They made some plays. I’m just happy that when it was time to make the winning play, we made it.”

Johnson walked off the field wearing a mask of a German shepherd. In the locker room, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie did the Dirty Bird in front of his players. And Foles was Foles.

“I know there’s been a lot of people against us this last week,” Foles said. “But the biggest thing in our locker room is we believe in one another, everyone believes, and that was on display tonight. Honestly, it’s unbelievable to win this game. And we’re not finished.”