Mike Florio ,
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Trailing the Bears by 15 with 3:10 to play on Friday, the Eagles scored a touchdown. They had a big decision to make.
Kick the extra point and go down by eight, or go for two and trail by seven (if successful) or nine (if not). The Eagles went for two, and they didn’t get it.
After the game, coach Nick Sirianni addressed the decision to go for two when he did.
“Obviously, we had to get one at one point,” Sirianni told reporters. “We had to get a two-point conversion at one point. I’ve done a lot of studies on that in my notes down nine. I’m always going to go for a two in that scenario, so I followed the plan that — again, I don’t try to wing anything in situational football. That’s what I wanted to do. That’s in my notes from my studies in the past, and that’s what we did.
“Now, the thought behind it is you want to know exactly what you need right there. If you go down seven, then obviously it’s a one-score game. If you go down eight, I know it’s a one-score game as well. That’s what we do in that scenario. I’ll always go back and look and reconsider things. Had three timeouts there to be able to potentially kick it deep there if we did get it. Obviously, we didn’t in that particular case, but at some point, you’re going to need it and I always want to know early what I need going forward.”
Another factor is the wind. Kicker Jake Elliott had already missed an extra point. The 33-year, one-point kick is never a gimme, especially on a blustery day.
Then there’s the possibility of going for two, getting it, scoring another touchdown, and going for two again, with the possibility of bypassing overtime.
The bigger issue than the decision was the play. Receiver A.J. Brown had just caught a touchdown pass, his second of the day. He was lined up wide to the right, with single coverage. The no-brainer move was to throw a fade to Brown and let him go get it.
That’s always the most important aspect of the two-point decision. If you go for it, you need to have a good play. A play that will work. On Friday, the play that was called and executed did not work.
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