While it was a slow start to the game, the Philadelphia Eagles kept their foot on the pedal as they took care of the Washington Commanders 29-18 in Week 16.
One moment in the game did not sit well with the Commanders fans and their head coach, Dan Quinn. After scoring a touchdown to put them up 27-10 in the fourth quarter, the Eagles decided to go for two points, and Saquon Barkley converted it, but a fight broke out with three players getting ejected, including Eagles guard Tyler Steen.
Quinn was not happy that Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni made the call to go for two points in a moment when Philly had reasonable control of the game. Sirianni explained his decision to the media, saying he was trying to make it tougher for the Commanders to come back.
"We were up 17. To go up 18, we did the math and said, 'Hey we wanted to be able to make sure we were up 19,'" Sirianni said via The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala. "We thought it was a little bit better. That way they could only tie you with a field goal and two two-point conversions -- two touchdowns and two-point conversions. We were already up three scores. We wanted to make sure we went up that way, just in case. That was what our math told us in that particular case and that's what we did, and we went and executed."
Eagles fans understand the reason to go for two points
If Commanders fans have seen how the Eagles play this season, two extra points make a big difference. Twice this season, the Birds have blown two or more possession leads to lose games because they didn't keep their foot on the gas pedal the whole game.
Also, Washington should understand why Sirianni might not have been a fan of trotting out kicker Jake Elliott on the field. Yes, Elliot had made all his extra points, but he missed three field goals with only two counting in the first half of the game. There was no way Eagles fans were comfortable with Elliott messing up another kick, and Sirianni would never admit it in public, but probably felt the same way.
Maybe Sirianni could have just kicked the extra point, but this was more of sending multiple messages to his team. No matter what, the Eagles are playing to dominate their opponents and send a separate message to Elliott that his job may not be safe anymore, even if the head coach publicly endorsed Elliott.
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Commanders fans can complain all they want, but not many Eagles fans are going to argue against Sirianni's call—a rare thing in the 2025 season.