After 59 hard-fought minutes on Sunday, it looked like the Philadelphia Eagles had finally put away the Jacksonville Jaguars for good. After a last-second field goal, all the Eagles had to do was bury the Jaguars deep in their own territory and stop another desperate play.
The Eagles, however, had other plans.
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After a field goal with eight seconds remaining, Philadelphia decided to punt to Jacksonville returner Ameer Abdullah. He made the Eagles pay, returning the kick 53 yards to put the Jaguars within field goal range with just a second left.
The Jaguars took full advantage of the comeback, scoring a game-winning field goal as time expired to win the game 19-17.
After the game, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about his team’s strategy on that final kickoff. As some have pointed out, the Eagles could have simply kicked the ball out of bounds, giving the Jaguars the ball at their own 40-yard line and forcing the team to make a play or two before getting into field goal range.
Sirianni admitted he made the decision to start normally and it cost his team the match. His full response contained some NSFW language, but Sirianni ultimately said he was the reason the Eagles lost the game.
“I didn’t make the right decision and I lost us that game. And that’s what I told our guys. What hurts is that the guys fought so hard, and then I don’t make the decision I should have made at the end of the game and I cost us that game and I’m all on myself.”
Jalen Hurts was also asked why the team didn’t run out more time before the kick. He said it wasn’t his place.
Asked about his thought process during that call, Sirianni declined to provide details.
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Eagles kicker Jake Elliott was also asked about the play and said he was told to kick it normally.
Hitting the ball out of bounds wouldn’t have guaranteed an Eagles victory, but it would have put the Jaguars in an extremely difficult situation. The team had no timeouts left at the time of the kick and should have not only gained yards to get into field goal position, but also should have found a way to stop the clock.
Knowing this, the Eagles defense could have played close to the sideline to ensure any pass was properly covered. That would have left the middle of the field open, but a completion likely would have resulted in a lack of time before the Jaguars could punt the ball or bring out their kicking team for a possible game-winning kick.
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The nature of the defeat and Sirianni’s decision on the kickoff comes at an extremely difficult time for the Eagles (2-3). The team entered Week 5 in a tailspin after losing to the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams the previous two weeks.
On top of that, the Eagles were without No. 1 DeVonta Smith (hamstring) and star running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring) during the contest. Additionally, its offensive line was in shambles after the sudden retirement of Lane Johnson and the team trading away Cam Jurgens.
A win would have gone a long way to curb all the negativity surrounding the team following its losing streak and recent loss of talent. Instead, the loss to the Jaguars in London draws more attention to Sirianni’s failures, something he cannot afford after the team also disappointed fans last season.
Gn sports
