Nick Sirianni spent part of his Monday press conference trying to untangle one ugly Eagles protection bust from Sunday, and his answer landed on the same place the film did: the whole operation broke down, not just one blocker.
The play in question came early in the second quarter against Washington, on second-and-five at the Commanders’ 44, when a defender came free and sacked Tanner McKee after the Eagles appeared to get crossed up in protection. Asked how three Eagles ended up on one rusher while another defender came untouched, Sirianni pointed to a check in the call and the timing around it.
“On that one, got in, there was a check on the play. We’ve got to be able to get the play in and get to the line of scrimmage so we can go through our process as fast as we possibly can, so everybody then, if you do have a check, is able to make their calls in an appropriate time before you’re up against the play clock.
You go in a lot. Sometimes there’s call-it-and-haul-it plays and sometimes there’s checks on plays.
That particular one had a check on it and they ended up getting us there. I think at the end of the day, we weren’t all on the same page with the check and there’s many reasons for that of when we got up to the line of scrimmage, when the check was made.
So again, many things and then just the communication within it.”
Sirianni also pushed back on the idea that the bust should be pinned on Landon Dickerson alone.
“I think it’s going to look like, on that one, that it’s all on [G] Landon [Dickerson] and that’s not the case. I though Landon played really solid yesterday, and it’s not the case.
Obviously, you saw that we were messed up there and different things accounted for that and we weren’t all on the same page. Really, back at the end of the day, you’re not going to pitch a perfect game and being on the same page - a hundred percent on mental errors.
It’s just an imperfect game. As much as you try for that, that’s your goal.
But when you’re not, those are the things that can happen. Defensively, you can give up an explosive play.
Offensively, you can give up a negative play that can be disastrous. Obviously, that stalled the drive out, and we all have to be better as coaches, from the communication of who’s in the game, to us getting the play in, to us calling the play in the huddle, to us getting to the line of scrimmage, to us making a check in the right amount of time, to all the guys being able to make a call, and then going out and executing.”
He finished by stressing that it wasn’t one isolated mistake.
“So again, it isn’t just one thing. Hopefully I gave you a little bit there that helps you answer your question, but it isn’t ever just one thing.
It is the series of things that lead to it and we all have to be better in that moment. I know you guys think that it’s cliche, but it’s truly the greatest team sport there is.
And maybe I’m the only one that thinks that, but I do believe this is the greatest team sport there is, in good times and in bad times as well, or on positive plays and on negative plays. Everybody has a hand in it and that’s why it’s so important that a connection is made with players, players to players, coach to player, because those are so important and you need your teammates to be successful.”
The sequence fit a pattern that’s been showing up again and again. The Eagles have been slow getting the ball snapped, and the numbers back that up: in 2026 they’re snapping with an average of 8.54 seconds remaining on the play clock, seventh-slowest in the league and 26th in most time remaining.
In 2025, they averaged 7.81 seconds remaining, fourth-slowest and 29th. In 2024, they averaged 8.56 seconds remaining, again fourth-slowest and 29th.
That matters even more when the offense is working with a backup quarterback and backup skill players. The source of the problem may be a check, but the larger issue is the same one Sirianni circled: the Eagles aren’t getting enough time to line everything up, diagnose the look, and make the right call before the snap. On a day when Washington kept bringing five and the Eagles had the numbers to handle it, that delay was enough to turn a manageable pressure into a free run at the quarterback.
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