Nick Sirianni Just Lost the Eagles Another Game He Had Won, Should He Be Fired?

Nick Sirianni stood in London and said the quiet part out loud. “I didn’t make the right decision and I lost us that game.” That is not accountability. That is a coach reading the film back to the room after the film already buried him.

The Eagles led 17-16 with eight seconds left. Jake Elliott had just hit a 48-yard field goal. Jacksonville was out of timeouts. The only way the Jaguars could win was a kick return. Sirianni ordered the ball kept in bounds instead of a touchback. Ameer Abdullah returned it 53 yards to the Philadelphia 39. Cam Little drilled a 57-yarder as time expired. Jaguars 19, Eagles 17. Three-game losing streak. 2-3. First time under .500 this late in the Sirianni era since 2021.

This is the second straight week he handed away a game that was already in the bag. Against the Rams he went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 2 while up 10 instead of taking the field goal that would have made it a two-score game. The Rams scored 14 in the final four minutes. In London he managed the clock poorly enough to leave eight seconds, then managed the kickoff poorly enough to give those eight seconds back. He owns both. He said so. The problem is he keeps owning them.

The offense made it worse. Philadelphia rushed for 22 yards on 18 carries. That snapped a 124-game streak of at least 40 rushing yards, the longest active streak in the league, and it was their fewest rushing yards since 2015. Saquon Barkley was out with a hamstring. DeVonta Smith was out. The line was patched. Will Shipley left with a foot. Dameon Pierce led the team with 14 yards on 11 carries. Jalen Hurts was 21-of-40 for 220 and a 62-yard touchdown to Darius Cooper. They led 14-7 at half, then managed three second-half points and punted on six of eight possessions. Jacksonville finished with 408 yards. Philadelphia finished with 232. Trevor Lawrence threw for 331 and two scores to Parker Washington, including a 27-yard fourth-down touchdown that put Jacksonville ahead 16-14. The defense, led by Jalen Carter’s two sacks and two forced fumbles, kept them in it. The offense and the head coach gave it away.

This is not a one-game freak. The Eagles have now blown late leads in consecutive weeks. They started 2-0. They are 2-3 and looking up at the Giants in the East. Sirianni’s regular-season winning percentage is still strong, and he has a Super Bowl ring. Jeffrey Lurie does not fire rings lightly. But Lurie also does not tolerate a building that expects to play in February and is currently ranking near the bottom of the league in points and yards. The offensive coordinator seat has already been a revolving door. Sean Mannion is the latest first-year or near-first-year play-caller. The results look like the third miss in four years. Colin Cowherd said on Monday that he does not think Sirianni is really a head coach and that nobody would hire him if he were on the market. That is the temperature right now.

Who replaces him if Lurie decides the ring has an expiration date? Nick Saban is the name fans throw because it is the biggest name. Saban has never coached in the NFL as a head coach in the modern game, left Alabama on his terms, and has shown no interest in the NFL job market. Betting odds and insider lists are not leading with him. The realistic names are coordinators and former head coaches who actually want the job.

Drew Petzing, the Lions’ offensive coordinator, has a track record of building run games that ranked near the top of the league in yards per attempt during his time in Arizona. Philadelphia’s identity is supposed to be Barkley and the line. Petzing is the closest thing to a direct fix. Declan Doyle in Baltimore is younger and has early returns that look like a modern offense. Mike McDaniel is already in the conversation for the offensive coordinator job; if the organization wants a full reset, a former head coach who knows the league and can call plays is not a stretch. Bill Belichick’s name has circulated in previous windows when the Eagles needed a reset, though that is usually more rumor than reality. The internal option is promoting from the staff, which is how they got here.

None of those names fix the immediate problem. The immediate problem is a head coach who has now lost two games in eight days because of decisions only he makes. The 22 rushing yards are the symptom. The kickoff and the fourth-down call are the diagnosis. Sirianni can stand up and say he lost the game. He has said it twice. The question is whether Jeffrey Lurie lets him say it a third time. The seat is not warm. It is the hottest in the league until somebody else matches the combination of a three-game losing streak, a historic run-game drought, and a coach who keeps admitting he is the reason the other team is celebrating.