The Linc – Nick Sirianni under fire for poor game management

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 10/4/21.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Better But Still Bad – Iggles Blitz
Game management continues to be an issue. Sirianni wanted to go for it on the opening drive, but was slow to get the play in. There was confusion between Hurts and him and someone burned a timeout. The Eagles kicked the FG. Ugh. They were in easy FG range so there was no reason to take the timeout. If you take it, you ought to go for it on fourth down. Beyond all of that, Sirianni should have had a play ready faster. The Eagles completed a short pass on the final drive of the half. They rushed to the line to get a play off. KC hit Hurts and the ball went flying out. The Eagles recovered, but lost a bunch of yards on the play. I thought Sirianni should have called a timeout after the completion. He said after the game that he’s studied this situation and thinks he made the right decision. The Eagles seemed rushed and a blitzer came free. Maybe that would have happened even after a timeout, but the OL would have had a better chance to read the defense if they weren’t in a hurry to get the snap off.

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Chiefs game – PhillyVoice
To begin, Sirianni did not get a play in on time on 4th and 3. So there’s already one gaffe there. And then after Hurts called timeout, it maybe sounded like Sirianni instead thought there was a delay of game penalty, so he sent out the field goal unit thinking it was now 4th and 8? And then once he realized that it was a timeout, and thus still 4th and 3, he thought, “Screw it, we’re just kicking the field goal?” Whatever. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter. It’s poor game management no matter how you slice it. Sirianni is a rookie head coach, and he’ll have some time to get through his struggles, but that kind of stuff won’t be acceptable for long.

Inside the missed red zone opportunities that defined Sunday’s outcome – PE.com
This one really hurt with the Eagles trailing 14-10 midway through the second quarter. On first down from the Kansas City 30-yard line, Hurts found wide receiver Quez Watkins for an 18-yard gain to the 12-yard line. Then Hurts threw short for running back Miles Sanders, who picked up 6 yards to the 6-yard line. On second-and-4 from the 6, Hurts threw left for Goedert, who made the catch and dived into the end zone for an apparent score. But, wait. Dillard was penalized for being downfield, negating the score. On the same play, Kansas City’s Daniel Sorensen committed a facemask penalty against Goedert, giving the Eagles a first down and goal at the Kansas City 3-yard line. Hurts threw to Greg Ward on the right side and Ward, dived toward the sideline and just couldn’t bring the pass in for a catch and score. On second-and-goal, the Eagles tried Sanders on a run right and he lost 4 yards. On third down from the 7, Hurts threw incomplete for Watkins, and the Eagles settled for another Elliott field goal.

Roob’s observations: You don’t beat KC kicking field goals – NBCSP
1. You can’t kick early field goals against the Chiefs and expect to win. You just can’t. It’s guaranteed they will come back to haunt you. The Eagles had three more red zone drives that didn’t result in touchdowns Sunday, and each time Sirianni elected to kick a field goal instead of going for it on 4th down. Against most teams that makes sense. But against Pat Mahomes? Against this offense? Field goals get you beat and Sirianni has to know that. Those may be low percentage 4th downs, but if you settle for three, you simply are not going to win the football game. This is an all-time historic offense you’re facing here and a Hall of Fame QB. You can’t just talk about being aggressive you have to be aggressive, and that means keeping your foot on the gas, no matter what. Every time the Eagles scored three, they were one step closer to losing. The Eagles lost this game when Jake Elliott kept kicking field goals.

Nick Sirianni explains play-calling decisions vs. Chiefs, discusses Eagles’ penalties – BGN
On Jalen Hurts’ performance: “I kind of talked to somebody in there, and I said, ‘That’s one of the better quarterback performances I’ve seen,’ and I’ve been around a lot of good quarterbacks — with Phillip Rivers and Andrew Luck. I mean, he battled. He battled, made good decisions with the football, he got out of trouble when there was trouble, he made good checks, he made good reads. I thought that’s the best I’ve seen him in practice, and that’s the best I’ve seen him in a game since I’ve been here. So, hats off to Jalen, he battled and that’s going to be important for us moving forward.”

BGN Instant Reaction Show: Eagles fall to Chiefs, penalties and defense continues to be a problem – BGN Radio
Jess (Towne) Taylor and Eytan Shander recap the Eagles 42-30 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.

NFL Week 4 Game Recap: Kansas City Chiefs 42, Philadelphia Eagles 30 – PFF
This Eagles offense is hardly built to win when Jalen Hurts drops back 30 times, let alone 50. Hurts didn’t finish with any interceptions, but it wasn’t for lack of effort, as he recorded two turnover-worthy plays. Philadelphia is in a difficult place in the passing game: Hurts’ ability to extend is his best quality, but his downfield accuracy is his worst. In all, five of his six deep throws fell incomplete, and one of those earned the turnover-worthy designation in PFF’s grading system.

Week 4: Tiring Homework For Homecoming—Inside Tom Brady’s Triumphant Return to New England – FMIA
5. I think the one lesson I’d harp on today with Jalen Hurts if I were Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is, Secure the ball. Hurts has played too much football, and at a high level, to be carrying it like a loaf of bread, the way he did late in the second quarter when it got swatted away by the Eagles. That cannot happen.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni can learn a lot from Andy Reid’s first year in Philadelphia – The Athletic
Sirianni’s honeymoon period might be on fumes after the Eagles’ third consecutive loss. The offense had three touchdowns taken off the board because of penalties, which is made even more vexing by the fact that the Eagles entered the game as the league’s most-penalized team and Sirianni had already vowed to fix the errors. The defense allowed more than 40 points for the second time in six days and only forced the Chiefs off the field once on third down. Sirianni’s game management decisions continue to raise questions. A first-year coach might get the benefit of the doubt — especially this early in his tenure — but it’s better to offer fewer reasons to doubt. “You’re furious that you go to 1-3. But we can also see there are some things that are to build on there,” Sirianni said. “The self-inflicted wounds have to stop. I know I sound the same, but it’s still true. We have to stop the self-inflicted wounds of putting ourselves in holes with penalties. The guys did a good job. We won the turnover battle. Our defense took it away; we didn’t give it away. They forced another fumble on special teams. There are some good things obviously right there.”

2021 NFL season, Week 4: What we learned from Sunday’s games – NFL.com
You don’t beat the Chiefs with field goals. The Eagles went just three of six in the red zone, settling for three field goals that ended up burning them. Sirianni’s decision to eschew a fourth-and-3 on the first drive (after a timeout no less) was a harbinger of things to come. The Chiefs kept scoring, and the Eagles kept shooting themselves in the red zone. Philly had three TDs wiped off the board by penalties. That’ll get you beat against most teams. It’ll get you blown out by Mahomes. The Chiefs D has issues, giving up chunks of yards, but escaped by getting red-zone stops. The defense is something that Kansas City will need to address against better clubs. Getting Frank Clark back will be huge. His presence is sorely missed rushing the passer.

Breaking down the NFL standings coming out of Week 4 – DraftKings Nation
The Cowboys got a big home win over Carolina while Washington won a wild one in Atlanta. The Eagles lost to the Chiefs in a wild back-and-forth game while the Giants stunned the Saints in overtime in the Superdome.

Eagles, Chiefs had fifth zero-punt game in NFL history – PFT
The previous punt-free games included three in the regular season (1992 Bills-49ers, 2014 Bears-Packers and 2014 Saints-Packers) and one in the playoffs (2003 Colts-Chiefs). Today’s game saw the two offenses combine for 61 first downs and 932 yards from scrimmage. It was an impressive offensive output and an easy day for the punters.

Andy Reid becomes first NFL coach to win 100 games with 2 franchises – Arrowhead Pride
All of Reid’s winning seasons, his three Super Bowl appearances and Super Bowl LIV championship will undoubtedly send him to Canton when he is ready to call it a career. But even though Reid made his name as the head coach of the Eagles, Mahomes believes that he has done enough in his nine-year Chiefs tenure that he will be remembered in a different light. “I think when you look back on it, you’ll know him as a Kansas City Chief,” said Mahomes. “The way he’s able to build up this organization from day one and win and build up to where we won the Super Bowl and got back to the Super Bowl and then where we’re at now, he’s building something, and he’ll continue to build it. And we have a lot of young guys on this team, who he gets the best out of every single day. No offense to Philly — I’m glad they let him go; he’s here coaching us in Kansas City.”

Dallas Cowboys vs. Carolina Panthers: 11 winners from the Cowboys dominating win over Panthers – Blogging The Boys
Winner: Trevon Diggs. He is playing like one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL and that is in no way any sort of hyperbole. We are reaching a point where Diggs is able to will a turnover into existence when the Cowboys defense really needs one. The team was in some lesser spirits at the beginning of the second half after getting pushed around a bit and he responded by taking the ball away twice and giving the offense short fields to work with. Diggs has five interceptions in four games.

‘Things I think’ after Giants’ season-saving overtime victory vs. Saints – Big Blue View
The Giants’ third-year quarterback made big throw after big throw on Sunday. Given time by an offensive line that deserves more credit than it will probably get, Jones completed 28 of 40 passes for a career high 402 yards and two touchdowns. It was really three touchdowns, but he won’t get credit for one on the 52-yard strike to John Ross as Ross fumbled the ball and recovered it for a score. That, though, was a beautifully thrown ball dropped right in the bucket to Ross. Jones hit Barkley in stride, giving him a chance for his 54-yard catch-and-run score. In my view, Jones has been outstanding so far this season. He played well enough to win in each of the past two games, but was let down by the players and coaches around him. This time, he got help. If Jones continues to play as he has through the first four games of the season, I think questions about his future as the Giants’ quarterback should go away.

Knee-jerk Reactions: Colts get first win in Miami, defeat Dolphins 27-17 – Stampede Blue
In a three-game hole, the Colts already have their backs against the wall to salvage the 2021 season. The condition of their roster doesn’t inspire confidence due to a ridiculous number of injuries to starters. No matter, history will only record which teams won and lost and each player on the roster has a limited period of time to compete at the highest levels. No one will feel sorry for management, coaches, players, or fans. Either the group finds a way to come together and overcome adversity, or they look out eleven months for a chance to try again. If only for that reason, it was good to see the team come together and get a win. Granted, it was against the weakest opponent they’ve faced to this point in the season, a team without an offensive identity, no ground game to lean on, and a backup quarterback familiar to fans in Indianapolis. Still, getting a win in the NFL isn’t easy and they absolutely had to take this one to start a push to get the season moving in a better direction.

The Good, Bad & Ugly from the Miami Dolphins’ Pathetic Week Four Loss Against the Indianapolis Colts – The Phinsider
It hasn’t been fun to be a Dolphins fan this season, but most of us aren’t going anywhere. I call it Battered Fan Syndrome. The Dolphins hurt us time and time again, yet like the abused fans we are, we keep coming back, hoping they have changed and that things will be different this time. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Well, unfortunately it is. Thirteen more games to go.

Sunday Late Night Wrap Up #4: Tom Brady gets the last laugh over Bill Belichick – The SB Nation NFL Show
Find out the top storylines, biggest injuries, and everything else you need to know from Week 4 in about 15 minutes! Rob “Stats” Guerrera recaps every game that was played on Sunday as only we can here at SB Nation.

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