The Philadelphia Eagles had victory against the Atlanta Falcons in their hands. Surprisingly, Head Coach Nick Sirianni called a pass instead of a run. He later defended the playcall.

Surprise in the NFL! After a bumpy start to the season, the Atlanta Falcons narrowly beat the favored Philadelphia Eagles 22-21. The Eagles literally had the victory in their own hands.

Things still looked good for the hosts shortly after the two-minute warning: With 1:46 minutes left to play, they faced a third-and-three at the Falcons’ 10-yard line. Especially with a star running back like Saquon Barkley and a good run offense like the Eagles’, this was not really a problem.

But to the surprise of many, head coach Nick Sirianni opted for the pass. And it came as it had to: quarterback Jalen Hurts faked the ball handover, although running back Barkley was already on his pass route. Barkley did not catch the subsequent pass and was inconsolable afterwards.

After the field goal, which increased the score to 21:15, the Falcons had more than enough time to secure the win. Which they did with a 70-yard drive. At the postgame press conference, Sirianni tried to defend the controversial playcall: “They played a certain defense and shut down the middle, so we tried to play the outside, which didn’t work. ”

Sirianni was also asked if he thought about going for it on fourth down after the failed third attempt. A failed attempt would have given the Falcons the ball at or around their own 10-yard line, and they would have needed a field goal to tie the game. Instead, they started at their own 30-yard line with a chance to win the game.

“I thought since they didn’t have any timeouts left, I wanted to see them score a touchdown first and see if they could run down the field,” Sirianni said. “And they did. Hats off to them,” the head coach continued. Sirianni later emphasized to “NBC” that he was not the offensive coordinator. He therefore does not choose the plays.

Why he did not intervene as the head coach, i.e. the one who has the final say, is unclear. It is also unclear whether a different decision would really have led to a different result