September 22, 2024
Stephen Lew/USA Today Sports
Nick Sirianni wasn't at his best coaching the Eagles in Week 3.
Two of the better offenses in football — playing in a dome — faced off a week after the Eagles dropped a heartbreaker. So of course there would be three total points scored through the first three quarters in New Orleans.
But somehow, in one of the most frustrating and entertaining 15-12 games you've ever seen, Philly overcame some brutal turnovers and even more brutal coaching decisions to move to 2-1.
Needing six points to close a late five-point deficit, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles shocked the Superdome, leaning on Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley to score in the waning minutes of an unforgettable Week 2 win.
GOEDERT GETS 61 YARDS ON 3RD & 16!
— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
📺: #PHIvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/EBe8TFImy9
Despite the low scoring and ugly affair, there were a lot of impressive performances that Eagles fans can feel good about.
The top tight end Goedert burst free for career highs 10 catches and 170 yards with A.J. Brown out of the game (and if we had more time to write this we might be singing his praises even more for an epic performance Sunday).
Jalen Carter was an absolute monster, batting down a pair of passes, taking Alvin Kamara down twice for key tackles for loss and hitting Derrick Carr alongside a much improves pass rush.
The defense as a whole shocked many as it held the Saints — who had over 90 points combined and 400 yards per game in their first two games — to 12 points and 219 total yards from scrimmage. A nod to Reed Blankenship and his game-ending pick in the fourth.
But running back Saquon Barkley — who we already chose once as a stock up performer — might have saved the Eagles season with this run:
SAQUON BARKLEY 65-YARD TOUCHDOWN.
— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
📺: #PHIvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/830L0j9R8o
He added the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter to make his day even more sparkling, a five-yard scamper to make good on a 61-yard catch and run for Goedert. He also was good for a huge two-point conversion with one minute left.
With the Eagles failing to post a single point until the aforementioned touchdown sprint, Barkley is proving to be worth every single penny the Birds spent to sign him as a free agent. In all, the Penn State product ran 17 times for 147 yards. Barkley may just be good for multiple victories this season all by himself.
There's a place for aggressiveness in football. In fact, the entire sport is essentially a test of aggression, decision-making and execution.
After a season and a half of being leaders in the industry in aggression — thanks in large part to the Jason Kelce-led unstoppable "Tush Push," — Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni clearly has absolutely no idea when it's appropriate to go for it on fourth down.
Dating to Week 2, a regrettable loss to the Falcons that was firmly within the Eagles' grasp, Sirianni went for it early on fourth a few yards and the Eagles failed to convert. In the guts of the game in the fourth, he elected to kick a field goal to put the team ahead by six when a first down wins the game. The Birds went on to lose by one point.
Against New Orleans, in a game that looked like it would be defined by two more Hurts turnovers (he leads the NFL since the start of last year with 26 of them), it was Sirianni's decisions on fourth down, yet again, that were the most decisive setback.
Just before the end of the first half, the Eagles head coach sent the offense back on the field on fourth and one with 14 second to play and one timeout. He ran a fake QB sneak — toss to Barkley that was stuffed and a turnover on downs. Trailing by three and getting the ball back, Sirianni chose not to take the chip shot field goal.
The decision was even more confusing being that even if they convert, they'd have no timeouts remaining — and after perhaps one shot at the end zone would have likely settled for three points anyway.
The @NextGenStats model STRONGLY recommended a field goal attempt for the Eagles there on 4th down. +8.1% win probability to kick instead of going.
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) September 22, 2024
When the Eagles did get the ball back coming out out of the break, the Eagles were within kicker Jake Elliott's range, but for some reason after running it on third down and medium yardage, Sirianni went for it on fourth down — with another chance to tie the game — and called a pass play that resulted in a Hurts sack.
A third fourth down decision that was objectively too aggressive, the Eagles skipper elected to let Elliott kick from 60 yards in the fourth quarter with the Eagles ahead by a point (his career high is 61). The missed bomb of an attempt gave the Saints the football at midfield needing just a first down or two to get in range to win the game themselves. New Orleans had no problems turning the short field into a touchdown (a pass from Carr to Chris Olave), once again forcing the Eagles to perform a miracle comeback.
Somehow, Sirianni was bailed out for all of it. And the Eagles are flying home winners.
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