The Philadelphia Eagles are reeling after their latest loss.
The Eagles lost a tight one against the Jacksonville Jaguars, 19-17, after it appeared they had won the game. Jalen Hurts had led the Eagles on what appeared to be a game-winning field goal drive, giving Philadelphia a 17-16 lead with just eight seconds left.
However, a coaching blunder by Nick Sirianni led to the Eagles kicking the ball off and giving the Jaguars an opportunity for a return. Jacksonville’s Ameer Abdullah ended up taking the kick all the way to the Eagles 39-yard-line. That directly led to a game-winning field goal by Cam Little.
Cris Carter, the Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver, spent the beginning of his NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1987 until 1989. Carter — speaking on behalf of HelloMillions Sweepstakes Casino — called the move by Sirianni “idiotic.”
The loss dropped the Eagles to 2-3 and they’re currently on a three-game losing streak as they prepare to face a red-hot Carolina Panthers team in Week 6.
“You have a head coach that is marginalizing the team by deciding to kick the ball because he decides besides the kicker — the guys on the left side of the kick team they’re the lowest paid guys on the roster — so he puts the game in the hands of three of the lowest paid guys on the roster compared to kicking the ball through the end zone,” said Carter in a one-on-one interview with Heavy Sports. “Instead of kicking it out of bounds, putting it on his defense where he spent $200 million on his defense and Jalen Carter. So that was idiotic. Very seldom you’re going to see an NFL coach make that type of blunder and cost the team a victory.”
Eagles Nearly Defeated Jaguars Despite Missing Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith
The Eagles look like a shell of the team that won the Super Bowl less than two years ago and it appears they’re in a decline when factoring in last season. Philadelphia already lost star receiver A.J. Brown in the offseason and they’ve had a number of injuries with Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith both missing their Week 5 game against the Jaguars.
Despite those injuries, Philadelphia nearly beat one of the best teams in the NFL in the Jaguars. However, the coaching blunder ultimately cost the Eagles.
“If you kick the ball out of bounds, they get it on the 40-yard line,” Carter said. “Okay, they don’t have a timeout. I’m guarding the sidelines. If you have to throw the ball in the field of play, he can’t reach the end zone. I’m gonna have a five-man rush. All right, I’m gonna guard it on sideline, and they’re gonna have to throw the ball in the field to play, we’ll make a tackle, the game’s over with. But look at the people on the field. They are your starting defensive players. Alright, they are not your young players. There’s not many starters on the special teams. Why would you put it on a special team unless it was on for a kick? You can’t put it on your coverage team. You can’t do that because you don’t have your front line players making the play.”
Eagles Play in Weakest Division in NFL
Thankfully for the Eagles’ sake, they’re in arguably the weakest division in all of football. The New York Giants currently lead with a 3-1-1 record and the Eagles still have two remaining games against New York, including the season finale in Week 18.
The coaching blunder by Sirianni was indeed “idiotic,” but the Eagles will have an opportunity to make up for it.
Eagles Great Blasts Nick Sirianni For Latest Coaching Blunder: ‘Idiotic’