{"id":285706,"date":"2025-11-11T17:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T17:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/285706\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T17:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T17:43:09","slug":"troy-aikman-couldnt-believe-eagles-last-minute-strategy-that-nearly-backfired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/285706\/","title":{"rendered":"Troy Aikman couldn&#8217;t believe Eagles&#8217; last-minute strategy that nearly backfired"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Even in this age of analytics that favors bold fourth-down decision making, Troy Aikman could not understand the Eagles\u2019 controversial decision late Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>The ESPN announcer openly questioned head coach Nick Sirianni\u2019s call to go for it on fourth-and-6 with 33 seconds remaining while at the Green Bay 35-yard line and nursing a three-point lead.<\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia did not convert in what could have been a disastrous decision, but Brandon McManus shanked a potential game-tying 64-yard field goal to secure the Eagles\u2019 10-7 win.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what he\u2019s going to do, this is surprising to me,\u201d Aikman said before the Eagles snapped the ball, \u201cbut I can\u2019t believe they\u2019re going for it here on fourth down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what the thinkin&#8217; was here.&#8221; \u2013 ESPN&#8217;s Troy Aikman was befuddled by Philly&#8217;s decision to go for it on 4th and 6th, only up by three points. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/A9c8lnY6Et\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/A9c8lnY6Et<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/awfulannouncing\/status\/1988101285795463552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">November 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia faced a critical decision during this potential NFC playoff preview while trying to bleed the clock after three straight runs resulted in just four yards, setting up a fourth-and-6.<\/p>\n<p>Sirianni said he didn\u2019t love the idea of attempting a 53-yard field goal, especially since it would have been into the wind on a cold night at Lambeau Field.<\/p>\n<p>The head coach did not mention the possibility of punting, which one could have argued for since the Eagles\u2019 defense held Green Bay to just 261 yards.<\/p>\n<p>He thus sent out his inconsistent offense, which mustered just 183 passing yards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got a lot of faith in our offense. It didn\u2019t work out on this one. We just didn\u2019t get it,\u201d Sirianni said. \u201cI stand put on that decision, especially being up three, because you go up six they\u2019re still going to need a touchdown and Hail Mary and and everything like that, so we would have ended the game if we got that and got a lot of faith in our guys to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.84837545;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37633779\" width=\"1024\" height=\"554\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-7.29.42\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"Football field with players on the line of scrimmage, showing game stats: Eagles 6-2 vs. Packers 5-2-1, 10-7 in favor of Eagles, 4th quarter, 33 seconds left, 4th and 6.\" class=\"wp-image-37633779\"  \/>The Eagles lining up for fourth-and-6. @awfulannouncing\/X<\/p>\n<p>While it was fair to wonder if the Eagles sent out the offense in hopes of drawing Green Bay offsides, they actually snapped the ball and threw a deep fade to A.J. Brown.<\/p>\n<p>The talented receiver could not corral the ball while in tight coverage, suddenly giving Green Bay the ball roughly 25 yards from field goal range with 27 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tmake every NFL game pay off\t\t<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"36699206\" width=\"158\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/UnderdogLogo_Final_stacked-black.png\" alt=\"underdog fantasy logo\" class=\"wp-image-36699206\" style=\"width:158px;height:auto;aspect-ratio:1;display:block\"  \/> Underdog Fantasy<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/play.underdogfantasy.com\/p-new-york-post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">Underdog<\/a> is where football fans become winners.<\/p>\n<p>Easy player picks<\/p>\n<p>No season-long commitments<\/p>\n<p>Real prizes every single night<\/p>\n<p>Use promo code NYPOST5 to get $50 in site credits when you play $5!<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tMust be 18+ (19+ in AL, NE; 19+ in CO for some games, 21+ in AZ and MAZ) and present in a state where Underdog operates. Concerned with your play? Call 1-800-GABMLER or visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncpgambling.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.ncpgambling.org<\/a>. NY: Call the 24\/7 HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369). New York Post receives revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and when you make a purchase. The Underdog promo code might vary by location.\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what the thinking was here,\u201d he said. \u201cYou stop the clock, could have ran it down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw an 18-yard completion to get the ball to the Eagles\u2019 46-yard line, at least giving the team a chance for a game-tying kick.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37633908\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/television-commentator-troy-aikman-speaks-114737252.jpg\" alt=\"Television commentator Troy Aikman speaking before a football game.\" class=\"wp-image-37633908\"  \/>Troy Aikman didn\u2019t love the Eagles\u2019 decision on fourth down. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>However, Lambeau Field is not the venue for 60-plus-yard attempts, and McManus\u2019 kick was off-line the moment it left his foot.<\/p>\n<p>The victory placed the Eagles in a three-way tie for the NFC\u2019s best record, while the Packers fell to third place in the NFC North at 5-3-1.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Sirianni could at least breathe a sigh of relief that his roll of the dice didn\u2019t cost his team a pivotal win.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not sure either coach feels real good about this,\u201d Aikman said while Sirianni and Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur met on the field after the game. \u201cSirainni will be answering a lot of questions about that fourth down but he escapes Lambeau Field with a win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even in this age of analytics that favors bold fourth-down decision making, Troy Aikman could not understand the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[352,1804,1806,349,111110,1239,99,1625,82871],"class_list":["post-285706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-espn","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-jalen-hurts","tag-nfl","tag-nick-sirianni","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-sports","tag-sports-entertainment","tag-troy-aikman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}