Eagles' Nick Sirianni Explains Controversial Pass to Saquon Barkley in Falcons Loss

After a costly incompletion led to the Philadelphia Eagles giving up a game-winning drive to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night, head coach Nick Sirianni explained his decision to pass rather than keep the ball on the ground.

He said he opted for a short pass attempt to Saquon Barkley over the run because of what he saw from the Falcons defense.

"They were running a certain defense—junking it up in the middle," Sirianni said. "So we were trying to go around the outside, and it didn't work."

Sirianni also explained that he wanted to challenge Atlanta to go down the field with limited time, but the incomplete pass stopped the clock and essentially gave the Falcons a timeout.

"In that scenario, I was thinking they might not have any timeouts there, but obviously they did with the incomplete pass," Sirianni said. "That would have come down to maybe a minute, and so we wanted to go up six points and it didn't work.

"The decision to pass it there, like I said when they were junking it up inside with it being fourth and three to go for it, I thought with them not having any timeouts I wanted them to be down a touchdown and see if they could drive the field and they did. Hats off to them."

Leading by a field goal, the Eagles had the ball in the red zone with the chance to kill plenty of clock and either kick a field goal or score a touchdown to ice the game. Philadelphia managed to burn some clock, but Jalen Hurts' incomplete pass to Barkley on 3rd-and-3 stopped the clock before the Eagles made a field goal, leaving the Falcons with 1:39 to mount a drive.

Kirk Cousins did just that, driving 70 yards down the field and capping off the drive with a touchdown pass to Drake London, giving Atlanta the lead after the field goal. Philadelphia's game-winning drive attempt came up short after Hurts threw an interception.

While Sirianni took the blame for misjudgment on offense, cornerback Darius Slay Jr. pinned the loss on himself for allowing London to score on the other side of the ball.

"That's on me Philly!! I owe yall one," he posted on social media after the game.

The good news for the Eagles is that the blown lead came in Week 2 rather than a playoff game. Philadelphia has plenty of time to figure out how to manage late-game situations better and make sure it plays mistake-free football.

Following Monday's loss, the Eagles have a tough matchup against a scorching-hot New Orleans Saints team that has blown out its first two opponents to start the year. The meeting will be a good chance for Philadelphia to potentially pick up a big win and make Monday's loss an afterthought.