Depending on how this season plays out, third-and-30 could live in infamy the way fourth-and-26 lives famously in Eagles history.
Fourth-and-26.
Donovan McNabb to Freddie Mitchell in the 2004 divisional round of the playoffs that went for a first down.
It came as time wound down in regulation with the top-seeded Eagles losing to the Green Bay Packers. It led to a tying field goal late in regulation to send the game to overtime where the Eagles got another field goal to advance to the NFC Championship Game and losing to the Panthers, 14-3.
Third-and-30.
Dak Prescott to T.Y. Hilton for 52 yards. The play was made with 8:02 to go after the Eagles forged ahead 34-27 with 10 minutes to go in the Christmas Eve game. Had the Cowboys had to punt, putting a defense back onto the field that didn’t force the Eagles to punt all game long, the outcome may have very well been different.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said the play “felt like was a little bit of a tipping point” during his Tuesday press conference.
The play came after back-to-back sacks from Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat.
“I couldn’t tell you what went wrong there,” Sweat told reporters in Dallas after the loss, "but we should’ve had them stopped there, for sure. I don’t want to say that’s a given but come on now. Yeah, that was disappointing.
“We felt like we couldn’t be stopped at that point. It’s just took the air out. … it was a bummer.”
Gannon didn’t want to say more about the play and what went wrong, but head coach Nick Sirianni said on his weekly radio show that the play needed to be made by Josiah Scott because Darius Slay was responsible for the flat in the cover-2 zone defense dialed up by Gannon.
Scott was playing in his 33rd NFL game; Slay his 149th.
“I have to do a better job of coaching what I want out of that call,” said Gannon. “I'm not going to get into specifics of the call, but I liked the call. But looking back at it, we have to do a better job putting our guys in position to make that play and get off the field because you can't give up a third-and-30.”
It’s the kind of play that can serve as a springboard into the playoffs for the Cowboys.
It’s the kind of play that could fester for the Eagles, especially when they are in that situation again at a key point in the game.
Gannon doesn’t think that will be the case.
He believes in the resiliency of his defense, its ability to stay connected, and the character of his players.
“I'm literally off of it in a second because I'm thinking about, OK, now first down,” the DC said. “I think if you don't have good leadership and they're not psychologically prepped to get hit in the face every so often and how you respond to that, then it's going to be tough to get over.
“Even when we came off there, I was very proud of our group. We were ready to go back out there and put the ball out and let's play.
“I never look at certain things that go on in a game, bad or good. It's always on to the next play, and our guys have done a really good job with that.”
Sweat said: “We just gotta be on the same page, really every play. We’re all gonna bounce back.”
We’ll see.
Fourth-and-26 carried the 2004 Eagles that day, but it didn’t matter a week later.
Perhaps that will be the case with third-and-30, over and done wth before the next game.
Or not.
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