Eagles didn’t show up against Bears — and neither did their coach: ‘We weren’t ready’
· Yahoo Sports
CHICAGO —Eagles coach Nick Sirianni made a baffling decision on Monday night that crushed the team’s momentum in their 27-7 loss to the Bears at Soldier Field.
With 3:30 remaining in the third quarter, Sirianni instructed his players not to snap the ball on a fourth-and-1 attempt from Philadelphia’s 49-yard line. Instead, he wanted them to draw the Bears offside with a hard count.
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After Sirianni’s strategy failed, the Eagles took a delay-of-game penalty and punted the ball back to the Bears.
Trailing 20-7, the Eagles needed to score a field goal or a touchdown to get back into the game, which made Sirianni’s decision to hand the ball back to Chicago a head-scratcher.
On the next drive, when the Eagles went for it on fourth-and-5, quarterback Jalen Hurts threw an interception to Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards.
Those two drives stalled the little bit of momentum the Eagles had left.
Sirianni’s decision is not the only reason the Eagles lost — the list is long — but playing it safe certainly didn’t help their chances.
“As I look back at that, I should have went for it there,” Sirianni said after the game. “I didn’t like that decision. The thought process right there, we were down two scores. I didn’t want to give them a short field. But again, it was a long one [yard]. It was one-and-plus. But again, right there, we had a good situation to be able to get it.”
The Eagles’ offense needed all the help it could get.
Hurts threw for only 153 yards, and running back Saquon Barkley was shut down during the second half.
The Eagles were forced to punt on their first two drives of the second half.
Sirianni made poor in-game decisions. He also deserves blame for the team’s lack of execution on simple things.
The Eagles missed a bunch of tackles on defense, the offense turned the ball over three times, and 10 penalties were called against them.
“We all have to own that loss right there,” Sirianni said. “I don’t think anybody coached well, I don’t think anybody played well. It was a true team loss. And when it’s a true team loss, I have to look at myself first. We weren’t ready to coach, we weren’t ready to play. And that ultimately starts and ends with me.”
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