Stephen Lew
The Eagles pulled out a 15-12 win over the New Orleans Saints Sunday thanks in large part to late-game heroics from Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley. But it wasn't a good day in terms of game management from Nick Sirianni.
Among the questionable — and that's probably putting it nicely — decisions made by the Eagles in Week 3 was to go for it on fourth and a long one at the Saints' 15-yard line with just 14 seconds left until halftime.
The Eagles lined up like they were going to run the tush push, but instead handed the ball to Barkley, who was stopped short of a first down. Rather than going into halftime tied 3-3, the Eagles remained down 3-0.
4th down STOP 😤#EasyToCelebrate | @BudLight pic.twitter.com/EzFiIq6Y7y
After the game, Sirianni took blame for the controversial call, saying it was his decision, not offensive coordinator Kellen Moore's.
"...And just so if anyone is wondering, on that fourth-and-one at the end of the half, I called that play at the end of the half, not Kellen," Sirianni said.
Naturally, a reporter followed up by asking Sirianni why he made that decision.
"That's what I thought was best for the football team at that particular case," Sirianni replied. "That was my decision. I did it. It didn't work. And we'll — I'll get better from it."
The Eagles' aggressiveness on fourth downs predates Sirianni's arrival, and has largely given the franchise a competitive advantage. Still, you have to consider the flow of the game.
After winning the coin toss, the Eagles deferred until the second half. They were down 3-0, and about to get the ball to start the third quarter. That's probably all the argument needed for having Jake Elliott kick the game-tying field goal and heading into the locker room.
In case you needed more, though, the Eagles were probably only going to have one shot at the end zone even if they did successfully convert on fourth down. The opportunity would have come without A.J. Brown, Lane Johnson or Mekhi Becton on the field, and still outside the 10-yard line. And Jalen Hurts had already thrown one red-zone interception in the first half. Under that context, going on fourth down made zero sense.
Luckily for the Eagles, bad game management from Sirianni didn't lead to a loss Sunday. Nonetheless, Sirianni's game management will and should be critiqued this week. This was arguably the most poorly managed game of his tenure.
