Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has been hearing all the noise from the city about how he just made bad decision after bad decision in the Week 5 London loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and while he will hold himself accountable, he also is willing to back himself up on some of them.
The one moment Sirianni repeatedly talks about wanting to relive is the last kickoff decision to keep it in play. He has taken ownership of making that decision and wishes he could go back and change it.
Another aspect is getting more attention than 24 hours after the game: clock management on the Eagles' final offensive drive that led to Jake Elliott's field goal with eight seconds left. That one, Sirianni is not going to take blame for, and in fact, has doubled down on. Not a good decision, coach.
Nick Sirianni explains his clock management decision after Eagles loss
After Sirianni and the Eagles returned to Philly from London, he spoke with the media, as there seemed to be more follow ups from reporters about the clock management decision on the last drive.
The decision in question is the Eagles' choice to throw the football twice in a row after Dallas Goedert's 17-yard completion got them to the Jaguars' 35-yard line and within range for Elliott to kick a field goal. Sirianni and offensive coordinator Sean Mannion decided to throw it twice; on one, rookie Makai Lemon caught it and went out of bounds, giving the team a third down, and Jacksonville kept a timeout. After the negative Eagles run on third down, the Jaguars used a timeout, forcing an Elliott field goal, and after the kick, the Jaguars had eight seconds left.
Jacksonville returned the next kickoff with one second left on the clock. That left time for Cam Little, the NFL's biggest leg, to hit an easy 57-yard field goal to win the game.
When asked by the media on Monday after the clock management decision, Sirianni stood by his decision.
"I stand by what I did in that situation," Sirianni said via NBC Sports Philly's Dave Zangaro. "Had eight seconds left to go in the game once we gave the ball back to them and that's where my decision is that I regret of what I did then after that. But to give them back the ball with eight seconds left I think we did what we needed to do as an offense. And you obviously saw the success of Jake's kick in that particular case."
Nick Sirianni on Monday still took blame for his decision on that final kickoff.
But he defended the sequence that led to the Eagles' go-ahead field goal despite it leaving 8 seconds on the clock for the Jags.
"I stand by what I did in that situation. Had 8 seconds left to go…
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) October 12, 2026
Sirianni further explained that they run this drill every Wednesday in practice, and people wouldn't understand how complicated it is. He also said that, given how the Jaguars were defending the run, he felt the only way to get closer to a field goal was to pass. Sirianni mentioned that he was trying to get the field goal closer sosaid Elliott could make it.
Nick Sirianni might have missed the point of what the Eagles should have done
Look, Sirianni's explanation is somewhat understandable. The Eagles don't want to put Elliott in a position to make a 50+-yard field goal. Over the last two years, Elliott has made less than 80% of his field goals in each season.
This year, though, Elliott has been great. He hasn't been called on often since the offense hasn't been good, but he's hit all eight of his field goals. Elliott seems to be back in his groove.
Could this mean Sirianni doesn't fully trust Elliott? Maybe, but even so, Sirianni still didn't make the right decision.
Passing it once after the Goedert catch is fine, but the Lemon reception on second down is what killed this team. Even if the running game isn't good, 22 yards on 18 carries isn't good enough; the Eagles still have enough to kill the clock. If Sirianni runs it on second down instead of throwing it to Lemon, the Eagles are 3-2. Period.
Read more:Ranking Eagles who are most to blame for egregious Week 5 loss to Jaguars
Sirianni is really digging himself a hole with this game, and at this rate, he might be in trouble. He can't keep making these boneheaded decisions in games or he will truly lose his job at the end of the year.
Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations