Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni says he made the wrong decision on the kickoff, and he owns it. Credit to him for that. But owning it doesn’t change what happened in the 19-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and it doesn’t change what has been happening for three straight weeks. The Eagles keep losing games on decisions that come straight from the head coach, and I’ve hit my limit.

I’ve defended Sirianni for a long time. I can’t do it anymore. In my opinion, Nick Sirianni is no longer capable of being the head coach of this team.

A long pattern of bad decisions

Look at the last three weeks. Against Chicago, Sirianni passed on going for it on fourth-and-1. That one stung, but you could at least see the cautious logic behind it.

Then last week, he swung the other way. Instead of taking the points that would have put Philadelphia up 13, he went for it on fourth-and-1 when the situation called for a punt. That gave away three points. Those three points lost the game.

So one week he’s too conservative, and the next week he’s aggressive at the exact wrong time. Where is the consistency? What is the philosophy? And then Sunday happened. I mean, this one is the worst by far.

The kickoff that made no sense

Here’s the situation. Eight seconds left on the clock. The other team has one of the best two or three field goal kickers in the NFL. Their kick returner has been returning kicks well all day. He actually took one back for a touchdown on the opening play that got negated.

Now, let’s say you’ve never coached a football game in your life. Like me. If I laid out that exact scenario and asked what you would do, I already know your answer. Kick the ball out of the end zone and make them try to throw a Hail Mary. Simple as that.

Any regular fan gets that one right. The head coach of the Eagles didn’t.

Sirianni decided to kick it in bounds. So I have to ask, what was the point? What was the rationale? Did he want to burn clock with eight seconds left? There’s nothing to burn. Kicking it out of the end zone hands the opponent the ball with almost no time and forces them to go a long way against a defense that knows exactly what’s coming. Kicking it in bounds hands a dangerous returner one more shot to flip the field and set up an elite kicker.

You simply can’t make the wrong decision there. It isn’t a judgment call where reasonable people disagree. It’s one of the easiest decisions a head coach makes all season, and Philadelphia got it wrong.

Owning it isn’t enough anymore

Here’s the thing. I think Nick Sirianni is a great guy. I think he’s a pretty good leader of men, and you can see that in how his players talk about him and how hard they play for him. That matters in a locker room, and I don’t want to pretend it doesn’t.

But leading men and managing a game are two different jobs. A head coach has to win the moments that decide football games, and over the last three weeks Sirianni has lost those moments over and over.

When you take responsibility after one mistake, that’s accountability. When you’re taking responsibility after the third straight week of game-changing mistakes, that’s a pattern. And patterns don’t fix themselves because the guy at the podium says he owns it.

I hate saying it. I really do. But Sirianni is not suited to be the head coach of this football team anymore, and after Sunday, I don’t know what else there is to say.