Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni took blame for Jake Elliott kicking the ball in play instead of through the end zone for a touchback with 8 seconds left in Sunday’s gut wrenching loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
“I didn’t make the right decision, and I lost us that game,” Sirianni told reporters afterward. “And that’s what I said to our guys.”
The Eagles drove into Jaguars territory on their final offensive drive to set up a 48-yard field goal. However, Philly passed on second down with 21 seconds left, stopping the clock when Makai Lemon ran out of bounds on a 7-yard reception.
Jacksonville then used its final timeout on the next play when the Eagles ran the ball on third down, leaving 11 seconds for Elliott’s field-goal attempt, which he converted. Instead of kicking the ball through the end zone for a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles kicked the ball in play, and Ameer Abdullah returned it 53 yards to set up Jacksonville’s game-winning field goal.
“What hurts there is that the guys fought so hard and then I don’t make the decision that I should make at the end of that game, and I cost us that game, and I put that fully on me,” Sirianni said.
This marks back-to-back weeks in which the Eagles have lost on game-winning scores in the final two minutes. Philadelphia (2-3) will look to snap its three-game losing streak when it hosts the Carolina Panthers (2-2) in Week 6.
