Nick Sirianni explains himself after a baffling Eagles play call late in the game that had Troy Aikman bemused as Philadelphia escaped with a 10-7 win over the Green Bay Packers
00:48 ET, 11 Nov 2025Updated 00:48 ET, 11 Nov 2025
Head coach Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on against the Green Bay Packers during the first quarter in the game at Lambeau Field on November 10, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin
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Nick Sirianni explained why the Philadelphia Eagles went for it late in the fourth quarter up 10-7(Image: Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Nick Sirianni explained why he opted to go for it late in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers, which left Troy Aikman confused.
With the Philadelphia Eagles' matchup with the Packers in the waning moments, star quarterback Jalen Hurts lobbed a pass to star receiver AJ Brown on fourth-and-6. The wideout was covered by the Packers' defense, leading to an incompletion.
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The Eagles held on to a 10-7 win, but the moment left 'Monday Night Football' commentators Aikman and Joe Buck scratching their heads. The moment came after Buck got Aikman to chuckle after an uneventful first half, which saw no team score.
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"Well, if he's just going to... I don't know what he's going to do. This is surprising to me. But I can't believe they're going for it here on fourth down," Aikman said.
After watching the play pan out and fail, the 58-year-old added that he still didn't quite grasp the head coach's rationale to go for it at that juncture of the game. "I don't know what the thinking was here. He stopped the clock. Could have ran it down. Wow," Aikman continued.
Once the result had been cemented, both Buck and Aikman spoke on the strange decisions made by Sirianni, especially with the Eagles nursing a three-point lead. "And Nick Sirianni able to breathe a sigh of relief as the two head coaches come together at midfield," Buck began.
The Philadelphia Eagles' decision to pass the ball to A.J. Brown in the waning moments of the fourth quarter left many confused
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The Philadelphia Eagles' decision to pass the ball to A.J. Brown in the waning moments of the fourth quarter left many confused(Image: ESPN)
"They went for it on fourth down. The Eagles did and they lived to tell with a three-point win." Aikman responded by stating: "I'm not sure either coach feels real good about this. Sirianni will be answering a lot of questions about that decision on fourth down, but he escapes Lambeau Field with a win."
After the game, Sirianni explained to reporters why he opted to go for it instead of going for a field goal to potentially make it a six-point game. "So the end of the game, you know, we're up three and I would like to be a little closer to kick a field goal, but the closer we would have gotten the more, again, you play every situation a little bit differently, but it was into the wind on that one," he began.
"I knew the kick would have to be a little bit lower trajectory of a kick on that particular one. I got a lot of faith in our offense. It didn't work out on this one. We just didn't get it, but the decision, I stay put on that decision, especially being up three because we go up six, they're still going to need a touchdown, they'll need a 'Hail Mary' and all that.
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"So we would have ended the game if we got that. We got a lot of faith in our guys to be able to do that, but the reason I didn't kick the field goal, again, being up three, but also just this trajectory into the wind there on that particular one."
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Sirianni was also asked about a similar play that happened at the end of the first half, and the head coach noted that it was predicated on what he saw on the field at the time. That said, the play did not go as intended, and it's moments like that that stick with him.
"Looking at it, I'm always really critical of myself in these situations, and I played those exactly how I wanted to play those scenarios. Again, wanted to go get points, we just didn't get, we just didn't get positive plays on those first two. So that's why we decided to do what we did on that one," he concluded.
The Eagles will be back in action against the Detroit Lions, playing in Philadelphia and hoping to extend their winning streak to four games.