Head coach Nick Sirianni and the Eagles put themselves in a position similar to the Week 1 win over Green Bay as the final minutes played out against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday.
Sirianni already knew what he was going to do based on an analytics study he led the team through entering the season. The Eagles kicked a field goal to go up six and wound up losing by one when Kirk Cousins drove the Falcons 70 yards in six plays for the 22-21 win.
“Is every decision I make going to be successful? No,” he told reporters Wednesday. “I’m responsible for all of it.”
The Eagles beat the Packers 34-29 in Brazil in Week 1. With a five-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Eagles tacked on two field goals in the fourth quarter and held on as Green Bay had a last-gasp chance in the final minute.
Sirianni knew the situation would come up again, but it’s one he studied closely with an internal league review of similar situations and analytics analysis.
“I asked (our staff) for every time it was 1 point to 5 points the team was up,” Sirianni said of reviewing late-game situations around the league.
“I come back and I re-evaluate it (after Week 2), right, and I’m even more convicted, to be quite honest with you, because of just everything that goes into that … As an offensive coach, there’s a stress having to have to score a touchdown when you’re giving the ball back to a team… There’s a different stress being down six as opposed to being down three.
“This game always comes down to players and plays. That’s where your confidence is coming from in going for that. We’ve went for it more in our plus territory than anybody else.”
Sirianni cited two home wins against the Cowboys in 2022 and 2023 and the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers two years ago when the team converted a 4th-and-3.
In the regular season, the Eagles are 3-for-4 on fourth down this season, and went 19-of-26 in 2023 and 22-of-32 in 2022.
On Monday, Sirianni said he referenced his trusted “chart” for guidance on what to do in the late-game situation — attempt a field goal or go for a first down — and it read “kick it.”
Atlanta’s defensive look with pressure up the middle on second down prompted the Eagles to go outside on third down. On 3rd-and-3 with the Eagles leading 18-15 from the Atlanta 10-yard line and 1:46 on the game clock, three yards ends the game. The Falcons were out of timeouts. Rather than run the ball, quarterback Jalen Hurts attempted a pass to Saquan Barkley. He bobbled and dropped the pass, stopping the clock, and Sirianni went for the field goal.
“Be ready, be willing to pass it,” Sirianni said. “We’ve done it and we’ve won games that way. We’ve also lost being too conservative.”
