“I Lost Us That Game”: Nick Sirianni owned it but it definitely doesn’t make it hurt any less

Nick Sirianni stood at the podium after Sunday’s 19-17 loss to the Jaguars in London and said exactly what every Eagles fan was already screaming at their TV.

“I didn’t make the right decision and I lost us that game.”

He’s right and knowing the Eagles were one sane decision away from leaving Tottenham with a win made the 7.5 hour flight back to Philly today a hell of a lot longer.

Nick Sirianni after the loss in London

View this post on Instagram

Not That We Have To Go Through It Again But…

Jake Elliott drilled a 48-yard field goal to put the Eagles up 17-16 with eight seconds left. At that point, the game is over.

You kick it through the end zone for a touchback, or you hit a line-drive squib and make them go the length of the field in one play. Either way, the Jaguars need a miracle.

Nick Sirianni chose neither.

He had Elliott kick it high and deep into the landing zone, which invited a return. Ameer Abdullah took it 53 yards to the Eagles’ 39-yard line. The officials put one second back on the clock, and Cam Little hit a 57-yard field goal to win it.

It’s one of the worst ways I’ve ever seen this team lose a football game.

Elliott didn’t even have time to think about it. He said he barely had a moment to gather himself between the field goal and the kickoff, so he went out and “did what I was told.”

Great, Jake. Nice job lol…

When Sirianni was asked to explain it, he said football isn’t always black and white and there’s some gray in it, then refused to say anything else. There’s no gray here. Kick it out of the end zone.

The Personnel Made It Even Worse:

What makes this decision even more baffling is who was on the field. The Eagles were down bodies everywhere, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr., a regular on the kick coverage unit, had already been thrown out after the opening kickoff.

That kickoff, by the way, was returned for a touchdown before a penalty wiped it out. So Sirianni already watched his coverage team get burned once that day, was missing one of his core guys on that unit and still decided to give the Jaguars a chance to return the most important kick of the game.

Jonathan Jones, who doesn’t normally play on the kickoff team, was the one who finally made the tackle on Abdullah. He said afterward he looked up, saw zeroes on the clock and thought the game was over. Then one second went back up. If he waits one more beat to bring Abdullah down, the game ends. He had no way of knowing that, and he shouldn’t have had to be in that position in the first place.

Eagles had it won in London but now they are 2-3 and spiraling >>

The Eagles Did Enough to Win And That Part Hurts The Most

The offense was undermanned all game. The defense was gassed and still came up with stop after stop in the second half. The offense somehow scraped together enough yards to get Elliott in range, and even then they didn’t run the clock all the way down before the kick. Every piece the Eagles needed to steal a win in London was in place.

Then one decision and one bad rep on kick coverage wiped it all out. Nick Sirianni said it himself in the locker room. The players fought their tails off, he didn’t make the call he should have, and he cost them the game.

Credit for the Accountability, but It’s Becoming a Pattern:

I’ll give Nick Sirianni this. He didn’t duck it. He took full responsibility publicly and told his players the same thing in the locker room. Several guys followed his lead and owned their own mistakes too.

Nick Sirianni talked about accountability being a core value of the program, and that’s the right message for a team that’s lost three straight.

That’s fucking great, but owning a mistake and not repeating it are two different things. Last week it was the fourth-down calls against the Rams. This week it was a kickoff decision that a coach with his experience should get right every single time.

The Eagles are 2-3, and at least two of those losses come back to game management from the head coach. Accountability is great. Fewer reasons to need it would be better.

Join The Chase