The Eagles had to sweat out a 28-23 win Sunday over the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, needing a late-game interception of Trevor Lawrence from Nakobe Dean to prevent what would have been a pretty disastrous collapse.
How did a game where the Eagles led 16-0 at halftime get so close late?
In part because a Saquon Barkley third-quarter fumble was returned for a touchdown, and even though it was clear Barkley should have been ruled down, the play was confirmed upon review.
But Nick Sirianni's Eagles probably left nine points on the field Sunday evening as well.
Sirianni — as he typically is — was very aggressive Sunday. It nearly cost the Eagles. But was Sirianni's aggressiveness foolish, or did Sunday just present the perfect storm of negative outcomes to make it look that way? The answer is probably a little bit of both.
Here's a look at the plays where the Eagles left points on the field Sunday:
- On fourth-and-three at the Jacksonville 22-yard line in the second quarter, Sirianni elected to have the Eagles for for it, rather than kicking a field goal to build on a 10-0 lead. Jalen Hurts should have hit A.J. Brown to extend the drive, but Jacksonville safety Darnell Savage made a nice play to break up a poor pass at the last second. That's three points that the Eagles left on the field: 4th & 3: Jalen Hurts to AJ Brown falls incomplete.
Bad throw, almost picked off. pic.twitter.com/roib4mxa3Z
- Barkley extended the lead to 16-0 with a 22-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. After a penalty moved the extra point up to the one-yard line, Sirianni elected to have the Eagles go for two points. Certainly, there's an argument for just kicking the extra point, but most teams go for it from the one-yard line. Who would have predicted the Eagles would get stuffed on the tush push? That extra point is four points left on the field total. An extra point makes it a 3-score game. They got stuffed here and it remains a 2-score game
Makes ZERO sense pic.twitter.com/oFhJbSVMLw
- With 9:25 remaining in the third quarter, the Eagles went up 22-0 on an 18-yard touchdown run for Hurts. Looking to go up 24 points — which would have meant the Jaguars needed three touchdowns and three successful two-point conversions if they wanted to storm back — Sirianni again had the Eagles go for two. Truth be told, this was just a sorry attempt that the Jaguars were all over. Not taking the extra point here was five points left on the field. Two point conversion is NO GOOD pic.twitter.com/3o8iEJFd9w
- By the time the Eagles lined up to go for it on fourth-and-one at the Jacksonville 25-yard line with a 22-16 lead and 1:25 remaining in the third quarter, you kind of knew what the outcome was going to be. Having been stopped twice on the tush push, the Eagles instead had Hurts drop back. Nothing was there, and he threw an incomplete pass to turn the ball over. Not kicking the field goal is three more points left missed out on, and eight points left on the field.
Bad play call by Kellen Moore and Nick Sirianni pic.twitter.com/NPvSMGl4qI
You can argue that there needs to be some feel here, and just take the field goal, which would have increased the Eagles lead to 25-16. That's probably the right answer considering how the game had played out, and that it would have made it a two-possession lead. But also, the biggest issue here probably wasn't going for it on fourth down, but rather that the Eagles went for it on fourth down with a lousy play call. Not going back to the tush push probably made sense, but why not just hand it off to Barkley?
- Finally, after Hurts connected with DeVonta Smith for a 25-yard, one-handed touchdown, the Eagles lined up to go for two again. The thought here was to try to go up by 14, rather than 13. However, the play was a disaster that never really stood much of a chance, and marked nine points left on the field:
Two point conversion is no good
Eagles remain on top 28-16 pic.twitter.com/Yku9iCxCTP
Had the Eagles lost, moving on from Sirianni Monday would have been a very popular sentiment from fans and media. Heck, it probably still will be. And make no mistake, there are plenty of legitimate criticisms of Sirianni. He's a coach with an offensive background, but he doesn't call plays. There's not really any evidence that he's a very good CEO of the team either. His future beyond this season remains very much up in the air.
With that said, while you can push back on individual decisions Sirianni made to be aggressive Sunday, the bigger problem was probably the plays offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and he dialed up when they were aggressive, whether it was a lack of creativity or execution. Most days, the Eagles aren't going to repeatedly get stopped in short-yardage situations.
Also, remember that owner Jeffrey Lurie and the Eagles organization embraced analytics earlier than most teams, and that predated Sirianni's arrival. Doug Pederson was uber-aggressive as Eagles coach on fourth down, and won a Super Bowl doing so. Now, there has to be a realization that not all situations are the same. If A.J. Brown is out of the game, your chances to convert on fourth down aren't as high. There is also a feel for the game, and sometimes it's OK just to take the points. Don't get it twisted, though, Sirianni is aggressive because the Eagles decided as an organization long before his arrival that was going to be their mantra. He probably pushed the envelope a little too far Sunday, but Lurie is never going to hire someone who is conservative because it's not the style he wants his team to play with.
