Nick Sirianni offers unacceptable explanation for the Saquon Barkley pass play

Those of you who were among the contingent that believed the Philadelphia Eagles should have moved on from Nick Sirianni after last season have probably noticed many Birds fans agree with you. Those of you who thought he had earned at least one more season no doubt have also had no issue finding people to agree with you.

Life is stranger than fiction isn't it? Or, maybe that topic is one of many that have split the NFL's most loyal fan base down the middle.

We're two games into the 2024-25 regular season. Those on the 'run Nick out of town' train are spearheading a campaign to lower his approval rating. Their reasons are among a few we have heard before: below-average performances, questionable decision-making, and constant questions and confusion about what he's supposed to be doing.

Nick Sirianni offers a questionable explanation for the final pass to Saquon Barkley during the fourth quarter.

As this story is being written, less than 24 hours have elapsed since the Eagles imploded on Monday Night Football. No one is happy. The calls for Sirianni's job have grown louder.

Two decisions will be discussed until the next game. Why didn't they kick the field goal on fourth down to close the third offensive drive and why in the heck did they PASS on third and four with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter?

The first decision didn't cost them much. Atlanta punted on their ensuing drive. Then again, one might argue that you MUST take the points in those situations.

Saquon's drop was the lone blemish on a good debut in front of the Eagles' home crowd, but the resulting questions are fair. Why in the heck is Nick Sirianni asking Kellen Moore for a pass play in the first place?

As you might expect, he was asked why during his postgame press conference. Be forewarned, you probably aren't going to like his answer.

“They were running a certain defense and junking it up in the middle, so we were trying to go on around the outside, and it didn’t work,”

Wait! What?

"The decision to pass it there, again like I said, when there were junking it up inside, with it 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."

There was also something about there being a built-in mechanism that was supposed to alert Jalen Hurts that, if the pass play isn't wide open, QB1 is supposed to sit down and take the sack... And, Philly would have gone on to bleed the clock and kick the field goal.

Well, Saquon was open. There unfortunately was a glitch in the execution of the pass play, but Jalen and Saquon never should have been in this situation in the first place.

Here are a couple of visuals.

We could go on. If Philly's defense gets a stop, none of this matters right? So why isn't more blame being placed on their shoulders?

The answer is simple. They, like Jalen and Saquon, should have never been in that position. In the end, coaches are supposed to put their players in the best positions to be successful, and when the pressure was most intense, Nick Sirianni failed to do so for his team.

Case closed...

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