Nick Sirianni defends decision to go for two down nine vs. Bears: ‘I always want to know early what I need’

Nick Sirianni’s decision to go for two points following the Eagles’ late touchdown came under the microscope in the aftermath of their 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Trailing 24-9, A.J. Brown caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts on a slant, cutting the Eagles’ deficit to nine points with three minutes, 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The Eagles could have kicked an extra point to make it a one-score game and waited to go for two on their next possession if Vic Fangio’s defense made a stop.

At the time, the Eagles had all three timeouts, plus they scored the touchdown before the two-minute warning.

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However, Sirianni opted to go for two immediately. The decision didn’t work out in the Eagles’ favor. Facing pressure, Hurts scrambled from the pocket and fired an incomplete pass for Saquon Barkley in the back of the end zone. Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze recovered the ensuing onside kick, marking the beginning of a nearly two-minute drive for the Bears’ offense.

The Eagles used all three of their timeouts to stop the clock on the Bears’ drive. By the time the Eagles got the ball back at their own 30-yard line, they had just 1:12 remaining in regulation. Hurts had to spike the ball twice on the drive to stop the clock, with the Eagles making it as far as the Bears’ 34 before settling for Jake Elliott’s missed 52-yard field goal attempt.

After the game, Sirianni defended his decision to go for two in that scenario.

“Obviously, we had to get one at one point,” Sirianni said. “We had to get a two-point conversion at one point. I’ve done a lot of studies on that in my notes down nine. I’m always going to go for a two in that scenario, so I followed the plan that ... again, I don’t try to wing anything in situational football.

“Now, the thought behind it is you want to know exactly what you need right there. If you go down seven, then obviously it’s a one-score game. If you go down eight, I know it’s a one-score game as well. That’s what we do in that scenario.”

Sirianni added: “I’ll always go back and look and reconsider things. Had three timeouts there to be able to potentially kick it deep there if we did get it. Obviously, we didn’t in that particular case, but at some point, you’re going to need it and I always want to know early what I need going forward.”

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Fox Sports color commentator and former Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen defended Sirianni’s decision in a post on X. He pointed to the analytics fueling that decision, asserting that a team that trails by 15 points will need three scores to make up that difference more than half of the time. The probability of scoring eight points on one possession is not high, he argued.

Olsen echoed what Sirianni said in his postgame remarks — the earlier a team knows how many possessions they need to erase the deficit, the better.

J.J. Watt, the CBS analyst and former All-Pro defensive end, responded to Olsen’s post and played devil’s advocate. While he agreed with the analytical rationale, he also asserted that the team’s mindset might be impacted knowing they are down one score instead of two.

Sirianni’s decision to go for two wasn’t the only eyebrow-raising situational decision he made.

The Eagles began their fourth possession of the game on their own 35-yard line with a 1-yard play-action pass to Brown on an out-breaking route. The 28-year-old receiver was marked down inbounds, though, with roughly 40 seconds remaining until the two-minute warning in the first half.

Instead of trying to get another play in before the clock hit two minutes, Sirianni decided to let the play clock wind down. Again, he defended his decision and took umbrage with the assertion that he wasn’t pushing to score.

“We had three timeouts, ball at the [36-yard-line],” Sirianni said. “We had plenty of time to go and score a touchdown and be the last ones with the football, so we got the one yard on the completion with 2:37. Then took it to the two-minute warning and we were going on the ball after that.”