Nick Sirianni Gave Bizarre Response When Asked About Eagles’ Wild Deep Shot vs. Packers

Nick Sirianni was very insistent that he knew the play the Eagles ran on a key fourth down against the Packers.
Nick Sirianni was very insistent that he knew the play the Eagles ran on a key fourth down against the Packers. / Eagles
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The Eagles beat the Packers on Monday night by the score of 10-7. As the final tally would suggest there was not much in the way of offense or scoring in the Monday Night Football clash. But Philly managed to earn the win to move to 7-2 on the season, and this week face plenty of questions about the team’s offensive struggles in Green Bay.

On Wednesday coach Nick Sirianni met with media to address some of those questions. He was asked about one play in particular—a late-game bomb to A.J. Brown on fourth-and-6. It seemed like a wild decision at the time given there was less than a minute left on the clock and a simple first down would have won the game. Sirianni’s seemingly frustrated reaction to the play sparked questions about whether that was planned or an audible from Jalen Hurts and Brown.

Sirianni was asked directly if that was the case by a reporter, who noted some Eagles players indicated that it was a “Jalen and A.J. communication that led to that,” he gave a bizarre response.

“I knew exactly what the play was that we were calling and that was run in that moment,” Sirianni said, slowly and firmly. Then he repeated the same thing when asked if it was an audible: “I knew exactly what the play was in that moment, what we called, and what we ran.”

Well, that doesn’t clear much up. Sirianni can be aware of the play that was called and the play that was ran and still be surprised about what happened. He appears to be tip-toeing around simply stating that he called the play.

Here’s what the coach said right after the game about the decision to go long in that spot.

“So the end of the game, we are up three and I would have liked to be in a little closer to kick a field goal. Again, you play every situation a little bit differently, but it was into the wind on that one. I knew the kick would have to be a little bit lower trajectory of a kick on that particular one.

“I've got a lot of faith in our offense. It didn't work out on this one. We just didn't get it, but I stand put on that decision, especially being up three because you go up six, they are still going to need a touchdown. So we would have ended the game if we would have got that and I've got a lot of faith in our guys to be able to do that. But the reason I didn't kick the field goal, again, being up three, it was just the trajectory into the wind there on that particular one.”

It ended up working out. The Packers got the ball at their own 35-yard line down by three points but were unable to get into field goal range and Philly won. Given the Eagles sealed a win against the Vikings weeks prior with basically the same play call you could understand the confidence in throwing the long ball regardless of what Sirianni wanted the play to be initially, too.

Another drama-filled week for the Eagles following a win over an NFC playoff contender.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.