Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni once again came under fire for his management of a two-minute drill late in the first half of Sunday’s NFC Divisional game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Sirianni was questioned for his timeout usage after a sack on Jalen Hurts knocked the Eagles out of field goal range with 30 seconds left in the second quarter of Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field. The sack moved the ball back from the Rams 32 to the Los Angeles 47, but the Eagles did have a timeout left if they wanted to try to get back into field goal range.
Sirianni did not do that. He allowed the clock to run down to three seconds before calling timeout, and decided to let Hurts attempt a Hail Mary instead of running a shorter play to try to get the yardage back and give kicker Jake Elliott a chance. The Eagles coach was widely questioned for the move, with many not seeing the point.
AJ Drops the TD
Hurts takes another sack to knock them out of FG range
Sirianni let’s the clock run all the way down to prevent an attempt at getting yards for a Field Goal
Nice
— RB (@RyB_311) January 19, 2025
THAT WAS AWFUL FROM NICK SIRIANNI.
He calls the timeout, then runs a play…. Fails to stay in field goal range, and then runs the clock down calls a timeout, and then attempts for Hail Mary.
Philly was then sacked again on the Hail Mary.
Disaster of an ending for Philadelphia.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 19, 2025
Letting the clock wind down there is reckless by Nick Sirianni. Could’ve gotten into FG range or even had two Hail Marys here.
— Steven Cheah (@StevenCheah) January 19, 2025
What the hell was that Sirianni?
No TO or 3rd-down play to settle for a hail mary. Terrible decision.
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) January 19, 2025
What is Sirianni doing?!? Call a timeout, run a play, maybe get back in FG range before the end of the half. You're content to run it all the way down and try a Hail Mary? Really?
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) January 19, 2025
Even a gain of 10 would have set up a field goal try of roughly 54 yards. Sirianni obviously did not want to give the Rams the ball back, and the play would have had to go to the sideline to ensure that a receiver could get out of bounds after a completion to stop the clock. The Eagles coach seemingly felt it wasn’t worth the risk.
If anything, Sirianni’s decision is probably a good hint at his lack of confidence in Elliott, who has struggled on long field goals and even missed an extra point earlier in the first half.
Still, this is not the first time Sirianni’s game management has been questioned this year. If the Eagles wind up needing an extra three points, expect some to put this moment under the microscope.
