Perhaps Saquon Barkley’s backward hurdle is the best of all time, but the Philadelphia Eagles head coach isn’t in danger of getting that kind of praise for his decisions. And the Eagles’ win over the Jaguars doesn’t prove they will win the NFC East because Nick Sirianni needs to reel in the madness.
Sirianni’s crazy decision to go for two points late in the first half instead of taking a three-score lead into the locker room nearly wound up costing his team the game in Sunday’s 28-23 win over the Jaguars.
The Eagles stand in position to win the NFC East, but they can’t risk giving away games.
Eagles HC Nick Sirianni made weird decisions
There’s a reason Dan Orlovsky hammered Sirianni. It’s because he deserved it. Orlovsky said he doesn’t trust Sirianni on ESPN’s Get Up.
“I love Philadelphia's team, I don't trust the coach,” Orlovsky said. “I think this is the only legit playoff contender with a coach as a question mark. The coach is a question mark. No coach takes more points off the board than Nick Sirianni. It's unacceptable.”
The Eagles posted stats of 0 for 2 on fourth down and 0 for 3 on 2-point conversions. And one of those conversion attempts came with the Eagles leading 16-0 with 22 seconds left before halftime. If Sirianni continues to make these “reckless” decisions, as Orlovsky called them, the Eagles will lose at least two games they shouldn’t lose. And that could be enough to keep them out of the top spot in the NFC East.
Another issue is the way Sirianni brushes things off. He needs to say the decision stunk and he won’t do it again. Instead, he said, according to nbcsportsphiladelphia.com: “You always think about everything.”
“You think about who you have,” Sirianni said. “You think about your past experiences with it, (and) you always look at the analytics of it. We’ve been pretty good with those. Today they did a good job. And I’ll look at everything. In the moment I’m always doing what I think is best for the football team. Today it didn’t work. That’s the way it goes. That’s the hat I have to wear. When we get a fourth down and we convert a fourth down, nothing is really said. When we don’t, I understand there will be questions.”
Let’s dissect those comments. The decision was well thought out. You look at the analytics. I’m always doing what is best for the football team. Today it didn’t work.
Those are the comments of a man who probably thinks way too highly of himself. Coaches make mistakes. Own it. Be a man. There’s no universe where going for two with a 16-point lead at that point in the game makes any sense. It’s probably true there’s no point in any game, EVER, where it makes sense. Maybe an absurd scenario where the other team gets mad and goes into the locker room early, and the conversion works with no defenders on the field. But that’s probably not even legal.
So if Sirianni doesn’t start coaching like an NFL head coach who wants to keep his job, the win over the Jaguars proves nothing in terms of whether the Eagles can win the NFC East.
Here’s his take: “I have to be able to have the balls to do that really at the end of the day and say, ‘Am I doing everything I can do to help us win the game? “In those moments I thought I was, but I’ll go back and relook at them. I’m always going to be hypercritical of myself. When it doesn’t work, I’m definitely going to think even more about it.”
Think harder, dude.
Eagles’ defense still needs to prove it
Philadelphia let the Falcons stroll down the field for a game-winning touchdown in the final minute of Week 2. The Eagles also made Baker Mayfield look like a star in Week 4. And then they nearly melted down against the Jaguars. If Trevor Lawrence hadn’t delivered the Eagles a victory on a silver platter with a bad pass, this would have been a terrible finish for a team that led 22-0 in the second half.
Statistics favor the Eagles to this point. They rank No. 3 in the NFL in yards allowed per game. They are No. 7 against the pass and No. 5 versus the run. And they stand at No. 9 in points allowed per game. But they have played the easy end of their schedule so far. Still, give them credit for what they’ve accomplished to this point, and let’s see how it plays out from here.
Give Vic Fangio his props for having linebacker Nakobe Dean primed for the game-saving interception Sunday. Dean said the Jaguars didn’t fool him, according to philadelphiaeagles.com.
“It's a play that I knew they had,” Dean said. “They have good backs that can run good routes, I know Saquon scored on it earlier in the game. I was kind of waiting on it. It was the opportune time. It was high red zone. They knew what we were in, they knew 3×1 when we were at the end of the game, so they got the read right and I just had to make a play.”
Career interception No. 1 turned out to be a big one for Dean. Sirianni liked it.
“It was the best play I've ever seen,” Sirianni said. “And I had no choice but to give him – I've been giving out game balls this year for special plays. Obviously, Nakobe gets one. Ends the game with I guess would you call it a walk-off interception? I guess you would call it that. Even though you've got to take three knees. They should allow you to go to the next play.”
Another strong point for the Eagles is the linebacker position. Against the Jaguars, Zack Baun had 10 tackles, an interception, two passes defended, and a tackle for loss.
Follow Us
Subscribe
