There’s likely no love loss between former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III and the Philadelphia Eagles. The two battled in the heated NFC East for several years last decade.
After the latest devastating Eagles loss Sunday, the quarterback turned NFL analyst took the opportunity to heavily criticize head coach Nick Sirianni and Philadelphia.
“The Eagles keep finding new ways to lose,” wrote Griffin. They win the game on their own walk off field goal if they don’t run a sideline throw Makai Lemon or if Lemon just goes down in bounds to keep the clock running.
“Poor late game decision making, coaching and time management.”
The Eagles lost despite kicking off with only eight seconds left on the clock in regulation.
The special teams unit lets them return the kickoff 53 yards to set up the game-winning field goal with the Jaguars having their 300-lb backup long snapper DT DeVon Hamilton, who had to replace All-Pro long snapper Ross Matiscik because he got hurt in the game,” added Griffin.
“You can’t make this up. Eagles fans have every right to be mad. This loss was embarrassing.”
The backup long snapper Griffin was referring to was shaky throughout the game on snaps. But DeVon Hamilton fully delivered when the Jaguars needed.
Cam Little delivered too — a 57-yard field goal with one second on the clock for the Jaguars to win 19-17.
Eagles Suffer ‘Embarassing’ Loss to Jaguars in Week 5
Griffin didn’t hold back in his assessment of how bad the Week 5 defeat was for Philadelphia. There might have been a twinge of hatred toward the Eagles in the former Commanders quarterback’s assessment.
But honestly, most Eagles fans would likely agree with Griffin that it was embarrassing.
To Sirianni’s credit, he accepted blame for the defeat. He told reporters after the game he made the wrong decision to allow a return on the final kickoff.
That probably was the wrong choice, but at the same time, the Eagles should have been able to properly cover the kick. They couldn’t do that, and a 53-yard return allowed the Jaguars an opportunity at the game-winning field goal.
As Griffin explained, rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon also made a mistake. On second-and-10 with 21 seconds left, Lemon should have stayed in bounds to force the Jaguars to burn their final timeout.
Then the third down play could have eaten up the rest of the clock. The Eagles would have then won with their field goal. Instead, Lemon going out of bounds on second down preserved Jacksonville’s final timeout. The Jaguars then used that timeout after third down, which gave them just enough time for their kickoff heroics.
It was a heartbreaking defeat for the Eagles. Griffin arguably poured salt in the wound but his analysis of the final few players were pretty spot on.
The Eagles will have to regroup quickly to face the Carolina Panthers next Sunday.
Former Rival QB Rips Nick Sirianni, Eagles After Loss to Jaguars