The Philadelphia Eagles inflicted blows to their own head on Monday. With the Monday Night Football contest against the Atlanta Falcons near the end and with the team needing just three yards to officially close out the game, the Eagles found a way to still lose 22-21 in the end.
The Eagles called a third-down pass to running back Saquon Barkley, who basically had a free avenue but dropped the pass somehow. This stopped the clock, and the Falcons had the ball back with just under two minutes to go and with no timeouts, but it was enough for Kirk Cousins to lead them to a touchdown.
After the game, NFL fans went heavily at head coach Nick Sirianni, blaming him for the play call and for how the game ended. Philadelphia had the win in its hands, and they’ve got no one but themselves to blame.
Here’s a look at some reactions from fans on X/Twitter:
Fire Sirianni.
— Lucid (@Lucid825) September 17, 2024
This was a massive blown opportunity for Philadelphia. With Washington and New York nowhere near the level to fight for the division, and with Dallas losing to New Orleans in Week 2, the Eagles could have already put themselves in first place.
Now, they’ll have to play the same New Orleans Saints who scored 91 points over the first two weeks. Nick Sirianni’s team started the season with several questions about them, and he certainly hasn’t helped himself squash any doubters so far.
Did the Eagles make a mistake by signing Saquon Barkley?
Barkley was ranked 22nd among 24 qualified running backs in the league the previous year. In 2022, he was eighth, but even so, due to a performance built in the first half of the year – his performances dropped a lot after that. After the 2022 bye week, the running back played 22 games and only amassed over 100 rushing yards in two of them.
A release before the end of the 2025 season is impossible since Barkley would leave at least $14 million in dead money on the payroll and wouldn’t open up any cap space. So Philadelphia is banking on at least two years of production from the player.
He has run well with the football, but this was always going to be risky for the team. With his drop costing a win in Week 2, Howie Roseman’s decision is not looking pretty at the moment.
