Nick Sirianni explains the conservatism on those Super Bowl 4th down calls

In tough times, look to the leaders. That’s true whenever we’re talking about anything. It isn’t any less accurate a statement when the topic turns to the National Football League and the team that you cheer for. As lovers of Philadelphia Eagles football, we’ve been allowed a longer grieving period than Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Nick Sirianni have. Whether fair or unfair, they have to get back to work, and that would have been true had there been a parade.

There are two coordinator positions to fill. The NFL Scouting Combine is scheduled for the beginning of March. Then, they dive headfirst into the pre-draft process. With heavy hearts and all, it’s time to begin the process of building the 2023-2024 Philadelphia Eagles.

Step number one… Host that press conference that we thought we’d hear on Tuesday. That mission has been accomplished as they sat with members of the Philadelphia media on Thursday.

Here’s what Nick Sirianni said about those second-half 4th-down scenarios in Super Bowl LVII as he and Howie Roseman sat with the media on Thursday.

As you might have imagined, it didn’t take long for the Philadelphia media to dive right in and ask one of the questions that quite a few Birds fans have been asking. Why not be aggressive and go for it on fourth down in the second half? Some are under the impression that would have been a wise move, especially seeing as how the Kansas City Chiefs offense was on fire.

"I know I’ve been aggressive all year going for it, really trusting our guys in scenarios. I think 4th and three on your own 33. I think you get 32 out of 32 NFL coaches saying they punt that ball every time… 32 out of 32. Had I known they were going to return it to the four, in hindsight, I think obviously I would have went for it there, but no regrets there on that. That is not my thought process right there."

Nick Sirianni went on to state that the score and game situation could have altered his philosophy. Had they been trailing by more than one point or had there been less time remaining in the game, he may have left the offense on the field, but with the game being as tight as it was on the scoreboard, he was hoping his team would come up with a stop on defense.

On the subject of the 4th-and-six scenario, he again doubled down on his theory. Philly was leading by three, and he believed, at that time, tacking on three more points to give his team a six-point advantage was the best-case scenario. In the end, neither of those decisions should have cost him the game.

Had his defense come up with a stop or had his special teams unit executed better, we probably aren’t having this conversation. Philly needed to be at its best on football’s biggest stage and they weren’t. Hopefully, they learn from this and it spearheads them to even greater heights. They have the talent to be special for a while.

Here are a couple of other notable takeaways.

Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman spoke with the media for about 30 minutes. Give that one a listen when you can, but here are two other things that you’ll want to store away in those memory banks.

He plans to let the next offensive coordinator handle play-calling duties. Special teams coach Michael Clay will return for a third season in 2023.