NFL coaches are paid handsomely to make the right call when the pressure is the highest and the stakes are the greatest. It also helps if they can tell time.
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On Sunday, Philadelphia Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni and Washington Commanders Coach Dan Quinn missed the mark in spectacularly costly ways, riling up two fan bases already on edge.
Sirianni’s decision to allow Jacksonville a returnable kickoff with eight seconds remaining in London set up the Jaguars’ stunning 19-17 victory. Ameer Abdullah took the kick 53 yards, one second was restored to the clock, and Cam Little made a 57-yard field goal.
“I didn’t make the right decision and I lost us that game,” Sirianni said. “I put that fully on me.”
Hours later, Quinn’s Commanders had comfortably reached field goal range in overtime against the New York Giants, only to chase a few more yards. Quinn botched the clock management in unfathomable fashion, and Washington never even got a kick off. The result was a 27-27 tie that felt much more like a loss and has the veteran coach suddenly feeling the heat.
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“That’s my responsibility,” Quinn said. “Nobody else’s.”
The two failures were different, though.
Sirianni made a strategic choice, even if it was a dubious one. With eight seconds left, a kickoff returned in play might have allowed the clock to expire; a touchback would have given Jacksonville a clean final snap.
The Commanders’ ending was a full-scale debacle — an unforgivable and inexplicable miscue in the eyes of many fans.
Washington had driven to the Giants 26-yard line with less than a minute left in overtime and no timeouts. Quinn wanted more yardage for rookie kicker Drew Stevens. On what should have been a routine clock-stopping play, quarterback Jayden Daniels failed to get rid of the ball and was sacked with eight seconds remaining. The Commanders had no chance of getting another play off and seemed stunned as time expired, their Pop Warner mistake costing them the win.
The Giants entered Sunday 0-230 since 1970 when trailing by at least 14 points in the final eight minutes of regulation, according to ESPN research.
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They are now 0-230-1.
