After a hard-fought 59 minutes Sunday, it looked as though the Philadelphia Eagles had finally put the Jacksonville Jaguars away for good. Following a last-second field goal, all the Eagles needed to do was bury the Jaguars deep in their own territory and stop one more desperation play.
The Eagles, however, had other plans. With just 12 seconds left on the clock, the team decided to kick the ball to Jacksonville return man Ameer Abdullah. He made them pay, returning the kick 53 yards to put the Jaguars in field-goal range with just a second left on the block.
The Jaguars took full advantage of the return, kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired to win the contest 19-17.
After the game, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about his team’s strategy on that final kickoff. As some pointed out, the Eagles could have just kicked the ball out of bounds, giving the Jaguars the ball on 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 kick off normally and it cost his team the game. His full answer contained some NSFW language, but Sirianni eventually 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 said to our guys. What hurts there is that the guys fought so hard, and then I don’t make the decision that I should make at the end of the game and I cost us that game and I put that fully on me.”
“I didn’t make the right decision and I lost us that game. And that’s what I said to our guys. What hurts there is that the guys fought so hard, and then I don’t make the decision that I should make at the end of the game and I cost us that game and I put that fully on me.”
Jalen Hurts was also asked why the team didn’t run out the clock more prior to the kick. He said that wasn’t “his place.”
When asked about his thought process on that call, Sirianni declined to provide specifics.
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott was also asked about the play, and said he was told to kick it normally.
Kicking the ball out of bounds would not have guaranteed an Eagles win, but it would have put the Jaguars in an extremely tough situation. The team had zero timeouts remaining at the time of the kick, and would have needed to not only gain yards to get into field-goal position, but would have needed to find a way to stop the clock.
Knowing that, 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 time running out before the Jaguars were able to spike the ball or get their kicking team out there for a possible game-winning kick.
The nature of the loss, and the kickoff decision by Sirianni, comes at an extremely rough time for the Eagles. The team entered Week 5 in a bit of 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 wideout DeVonta Smith and star running back Saquon Barkley during the contest. Additionally, its offensive line was in shambles following the sudden retirement of Lane Johnson and the team trading away Cam Jurgens.
A win would have done a lot 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 only draws more attention to Sirianni’s failures, something he can’t afford after the team also disappointed fans last season.
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