Nick Sirianni has accepted responsibility for the Philadelphia Eagles’ 19-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, acknowledging that his late kickoff decision helped determine the outcome after his team appeared poised to escape with a victory.
Philadelphia led 17-16 with eight seconds remaining when Jake Elliott converted a 48-yard field goal but instead of sending the ensuing kickoff into the end zone, the Eagles opted for a shorter kick.
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Giving Jacksonville one final opportunity to respond, Ameer Abdullah returned the ball 53 yards to the Eagles’ 39-yard line, putting the Jaguars in position to attempt a decisive field goal kick.
Cam Little then connected from 57 yards as time expired at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, completing a dramatic comeback in the most unlikely of fashions, leaving the Eagles’ head coach with a bitter taste in his mouth.
“I didn’t make the right decision, and I lost us that game,” Sirianni confessed. “That’s what I said to our guys, and what hurts there is that, you know, the guys fought so hard and then I don’t make the decision that, you know, that I should make at the end of the game, and I cost us that game, and I put that fully on me.
"At the end of the day, I didn’t make the right decision, and it cost us the game. You know, and so there’s no other way around it. There’s nothing really else to say about that. It’s just I didn’t do my job good enough in that situation."
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The defeat came after Philadelphia had surrendered its advantage late in the fourth quarter as Trevor Lawrence found Parker Washington for a 27-yard touchdown, leaving the Eagles needing Elliott’s late field goal to regain the lead before Jacksonville’s final possession.
The finish also echoed Dallas’ recent loss to Baltimore as the Cowboys had sent a kickoff into the end zone, but the Ravens still got into field-goal range as Tyler Loop delivered the winner, so Philadelphia’s different approach still produced a painful result.
But the problems extended beyond the final seconds as without leading rusher Saquon Barkley and receiver DeVonta Smith, the Eagles struggled offensively, finishing with just 22 rushing yards while dealing with difficulties along a makeshift offensive line.
Jalen Hurts completed 21 of 40 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown, connecting with Darius Cooper for a 62-yard score whilst Will Shipley added a two-yard rushing touchdown as Jacksonville, meanwhile, improved to 4-1.
Washington caught two touchdowns from Lawrence as the wide receiver recorded six receptions for 124 yards, helping the Jaguars recover after falling behind in the first half.
Philadelphia dropped to 2-3 and the Eagles must now address their offensive shortcomings, and their next opportunity comes against the Carolina Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, October 18 as they look to remain in the NFC East race.