What Critics Don’t Consider About NFL Play-Calling
Monday Night Football turned into a disaster at Lincoln Financial Field. Jason Kelce, Nick Foles, and all the partying on Monday Night Countdown didn’t help the Philadelphia Eagles avoid handing a game away to the Atlanta Falcons.
Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore inevitably have to face the fallout after a debatable decision to call a passing play to Saquon Barkley instead of a run play that would’ve kept the clock ticking after the two-minute warning.
However, critics of NFL play-callers too often singularly analyze decisions with the benefit of hindsight without considering the bigger picture of player execution and coaching strategy.
Sirianni, Moore & NFL Play-Calls
Saquon Barkley dropped a third-and-3 pass that would’ve improved the Eagles to 2-0. Should the ball have been in the air in the first place though?
The coaches set an expectation for a prime playmaker in the top tier of his position group in the NFL to execute a play in a critical spot. Barkley didn’t do it.
When NFL coaches call plays, they must consider all possible outcomes. In this particular case, Sirianni (the head coach who took ownership of the decision) and Moore (the expected play-caller who isn’t innocent of offensive shortcomings) had a responsibility to consider a miscue like a dropped pass as one realistic scenario.
However, avoiding the simple screen pass on third-and-3 would’ve ignored the need to attack with confidence.
Instead, the coaching staff called a play with the expectation that a loaded offense with Jalen Hurts and his gifted running back could would move the chains and ice a Week 2 victory.
Jeff McLane pointed out as a guest with Kincade & Salciunas the alternative possibility of a decision made with sights on four-down territory. A third down run could’ve inched the Eagles closer to a game-winning first down with a similarly aggressive strategy and set up for a potential tush push on fourth down.
The approach would’ve added a higher likelihood of a running clock, eliminated the chance for a dropped pass, and replaced it with a minimally lesser risk like a fumble or another miscue in the trenches.
However, too many critics on the airwaves of 97.5 The Fanatic and throughout NFL circles have second-guessed with the benefit of hindsight without properly considering additional factors. The mentality persists too often in collective football analysis.
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Instead of using McLane’s big-picture mindset presenting a legitimate alternative, the criticism eliminates credit for the sound rationale that Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore used.
The same screen pass from Hurts to Barkley had worked once earlier in the same game. The players directly involved are the ones the Eagles need to count on to win football games. The play itself unfolded successfully before the dropped pass. The coaches trusted playmakers with an aggressive strategy that superseded a conservative running play followed by a possible field goal.
A properly executed play would’ve moved the chains, kept the clock running, and eliminated the need for a suspect defense to step back onto the field against the Falcons. The Eagles needed a confident, aggressive strategy on offense.
Saquon Barkley simply didn’t capitalize on that vote of confidence. The result on its own doesn’t change the mentality of the initial decision.
The Philly Special: An Alternate Universe
Eagles fans glorify the Philly Special as a gutsy play-call by Doug Pederson on the biggest stage in Super Bowl LII. The franchise’s only Super Bowl-winning head coach trusted his personnel to execute a trick play on fourth down from the 1-yard line.
However, an alternate history could’ve landed Pederson in a similar situation as Sirianni and Moore if a lack of execution made him look silly.
If Trey Burton and Corey Clement, players with significantly less impressive NFL track records than Saquon Barkley, had botched the play, imagine what the reaction would’ve been.
Monday Night Football included plenty of similar instances judged differently because of their outcomes.
The Falcons aggressively stayed on the field for a fourth-and-4 late from their own 47-yard line late in the third quarter.
A converted pass from Kirk Cousins to Ray-Ray McCloud eliminated any criticism from the hindsight crowd. The drive resulted in a touchdown that put Atlanta ahead.
The Eagles then ran a tush push on fourth down on the ensuing drive. The conversion pushed that coaching decision to the backburner.
If critics want to condemn aggressive play-calls that show confidence in a team’s best offensive players, they must also acknowledge the merit of the intended aggressive play-calling strategy. Too often, a contrary, oversimplified mentality persists in NFL rhetoric.
“All I can do is go back and review those and say, ‘Did I like what we did here? Would we do it again or would we change directions next time?’ Everything is thought out of what we want to do, but that’s this game of football.” -Nick Sirianni
