Nothing is capable of salvaging the Dallas Cowboys' blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The Cowboys once again got flattened by a member of the Shanahan coaching tree and it proved that the offense has little juice outside of CeeDee Lamb.
With Cowboys fans questioning their life choices, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles came to Dallas' rescue on Monday night.
The Eagles were in the driver's seat to defeat the Atlanta Falcons after they forced a turnover on downs with five minutes left in the fourth quarter while nursing a 18-15 lead. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley helped Philly milk the clock with an 11-play drive that forced Atlanta to use its remaining timeouts.
On 3rd-and-3 with 1:46 left in the game, though, Sirianni and Kellen Moore called a pass play for Barkley. The star RB dropped the pass and the Eagles settled for a field goal. In fitting Philly fashion, its defense allowed Kirk Cousins to march down the field on five plays before throwing the game-winning touchdown to Drake London with 34 seconds left.
It's another unfathomable loss for the Eagles and Nick Sirianni refused to take accountability for it. The polarizing head coach subtly threw Jalen Hurts under the bus postgame and let Barkley take the blame.
Cowboys fans can only laugh after Eagles' choke job on Monday night
That quote is a terrible look for Sirianni, even though Barkley was wide open and Hurts threw a perfect pass that allowed Barkley to go down in bounds. If Barkley caught the ball it would have effectively ended the game.
The play call itself is a separate talking point. It was 3rd-and-3 and Barkley had carved up the Falcons' defense on the drive. He was responsible for 26 of the Eagles' 29 yards before the drop. It's very possible that Barkley would have picked up a first down had Sirianni called a run.
Again, Barkley should have made the catch. It's not like Hurts zipped into his chest and there wasn't a defender within five yards of him. However, throwing on third down resulted in the one thing the Eagles could not do - stop the clock when the Falcons had zero timeouts.
Atlanta was left so much time that the Eagles got the ball back with 34 seconds left needing a field goal to win the game. After one play, Philly was already near midfield but Hurts threw an interception on the next snap to ice the game. Hurts was hit as he threw but it wasn't a great decision by the QB.
The Eagles should have never been in that position, though. Running on third down would have shaved another 40-plus seconds off the clock and a field goal would have put Philly up six. At that point, the Falcons would have needed to travel between 70-80 yards needing a touchdown with zero timeouts.
Under Sirianni, Dallas' foremost rival has now lost four games since the start of last season after leading in the final minute of regulation.
