The Philadelphia Eagles fan base has a love-hate relationship with head coach Nick Sirianni, and sometimes that sentiment is not entirely justified. One moment in the Week 10 Green Bay Packers game, though, might have some justification for some questions.
Late in the fourth quarter, with 33 seconds left and holding onto a 10-7 lead, the Eagles had the ball at the Packers' 35-yard line, facing a fourth down with six yards to go. A perfect opportunity for Philly to trot Jake Elliott out to try a long field goal, but instead, Sirianni kept the offense on the field with Jalen Hurts throwing it deep to A.J. Brown on a contested play, but it was incomplete.
Green Bay got the ball back with 27 seconds left, moved the ball 18 yards before a 64-yard field was attemped and miss for Philly to escape with a win. After the game, Sirianni confused just about everyone with his explanation of the fourth down.
"So the end of the game, we're up three, and I would have liked to be a little closer to kick a field goal. Again, you play every situation a little bit differently. It was into the wind on that one. I knew the kick would have been a lower trajectory of a kick on that particular one. I got a lot of faith in our offense. It didn't work out. We just didn't hit it, but I stand put on that decision, especially being up three, because you go up six, still going to need a touchdown, get a Hail Mary and everything like that. We would have ended the game if we've got that and I got a lot of faith in our guys to be able to do that."
#Eagles HC Nick Sirianni on his decision to go for it on fourth and six with just over 30 seconds remaining:
“I stand put on that decision, especially being up three, cause if you go up six, they’re still going to need a touchdown…”
His full explanation: pic.twitter.com/C7psvFIaIy
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) November 11, 2025
Sirianni either is covering for the call or doesn't get it
Here's where Sirianni should have gone through all his options. If he felt Elliott was kicking into the win, it makes sense to hold off on the field goal. Elliott has had his struggles from 50 yards or more over the last year or so, so being cautious on that call is okay.
What doesn't make sense is bombing the ball down the field when the risk of not getting it is greater than the reward. Apparently, it was the same call as the one they ran against the Minnesota Vikings, which makes the play call even worse with how predictable they are.
The best course of action would have been to put the ball. Philly could have played the field position game without risking a fourth-down miss on offense or Elliott not getting the field goal.
Here's the issue with what Sirianni said: if they are up by just three points, the Packers just need a field goal to force overtime. The aggressive manner in which he went with it doesn't make sense.
Read more:It took one game with Eagles for Jaelan Phillips to be missing piece to defense
Sirianni should count his blessings that the defense held up and carried this Eagles team to a win against Green Bay. This is a decision Eagles fans hope Sirianni doesn't make again.