Eagles' Nick Sirianni addresses controversial fourth-down decision after 'SNF' win over Lions

The Philadelphia Eagles held a 10-point lead over the Detroit Lions with three minutes remaining in regulation when Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni kept his offense on the field for a 4th-and-short at the Philadelphia 29-yard line. 

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was stuffed for no gain, but the Eagles nevertheless managed to hold on for a 16-9 win that improved them to 8-2 on the season. While speaking with reporters after the game, Sirianni indicated he regretted being so bold in that moment. 

Nick Sirianni left second-guessing himself after fourth-down call

"Obviously, I’m going to be second-guessing myself about the 4th-and-1 in our own territory there," Sirianni acknowledged, per Johnny McGonigal of PennLive. "We got about half of it the play before. I thought we could get the other half right there. But hey, we didn’t. I have to live with that. ... I had a lot of confidence, and it didn’t work. So any time it doesn’t work in a fourth-down situation, I’m always going to be hyper-critical of myself. Because it’s on me making that decision. I’ll go back and look at it."

Back on Nov. 10, Sirianni had quarterback Jalen Hurts drop back to pass on a 4th-and-6 at the Green Bay Packers' 35-yard line when the Eagles held a three-point lead with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. The pass was broken up, but Philadelphia went on to earn a 10-7 win. On Sunday evening, the Lions kicked a 54-yard field goal shortly after they made their fourth-down stop. However, they never got the ball back. 

How Nick Sirianni wishes he would've handled fourth-down situation

Meanwhile, Detroit went 3-of-13 in third-down situations and 0-of-5 on fourth down against an Eagles defense that played like a championship unit in prime time. That defense could've used some help from Sirianni with three minutes left on the clock.

"Obviously, when I’m sitting here right now, I’m like, 'Oh, I should’ve punted it there,'" Sirianni added during his postgame comments. "If it works, you’re either able to drain their timeouts there or take another two minutes off the clock. But in that case, it didn’t work and gave them a short field. So that’s 100% on me."

Perhaps Sirianni will embrace a more conservative mindset when the Eagles face the rival Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 23. The 3-5-1 Cowboys play at the Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) on Monday night.