A questionable playcall from the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday may have been the difference in the team’s Week 2 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Eagles led the Falcons 18-15 with under two minutes left at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.
Philadelphia had 3rd-and-3 at Atlanta’s 10. With the Falcons out of timeouts at that point, it seemed prudent to run the football one last time. A first down would have virtually ended the game. But even if the Eagles failed, the clock would have been drained a little bit more.
The Eagles, however, dialed up a pass that running back Saquon Barkley dropped (video here). Philadelphia settled for a field goal to extend their lead to six. The resulting play also stopped the clock, which gave the Falcons more time for their game-winning TD drive moments later.
After the Eagles’ 22-21 loss, head coach Nick Sirianni was asked why his squad decided to throw the football instead of opting for to run one more time.
“They were running a certain defense and junking it up in the middle,” Sirianni explained, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “So we were trying to go on around the outside, and it didn’t work.
“The decision to pass it there, again like I said, when they were junking it up inside, with it then being fourth and three to go for it, I thought with them not having any timeouts, I wanted them to be down a touchdown and see if they could drive the field. And they did. Hat’s off to them.”
Had Barkley caught the uncontested pass, the decision wouldn’t have even been a talking point. But in the results-based world of sports, criticism almost always comes with failure.
But based on how disappointed Eagles supporters in attendance looked after the game, there probably wasn’t an explanation that would’ve satisfied the fan base.
