The Philadelphia Eagles’ comeback efforts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night fell short due in part to a highly controversial fourth quarter taunting call against Eagles defender Genard Avery. But Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni isn’t putting the blame on Avery – or the officials.
Speaking to the media after the game, Sirianni took responsibility for the taunting penalty. He said that it falls on him teach his players to avoid “self-inflicted wounds” and get his team to keep its composure.
“That’s first on me,” Sirianni said, via ProFootballTalk. “I’ve got to do a better job of cleaning up all those things. We know we can’t make those self-inflicted wounds. I know that, they know that, we’ll continue to harp on that, we’ll continue to work to get it right. But again, that was unacceptable, and that falls on me first. So I’ve got to do a better job of getting everybody doing the right things out there, and keeping our composure out there.”
Sirianni has been getting raked over the coals this morning for some of his decisions in the game. But he isn’t bearing the brunt of the criticism of that particular taunting penalty.
A taunting penalty was called on the Eagles after this play. pic.twitter.com/f530iZcWXg
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 15, 2021
On the play in question, Avery put his face right in the face of Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette – a pretty common occurrence. But the referees flagged Avery, extending a Buccaneers drive that ultimately sealed the game.
The Eagles lost the game, 28-22, dropping to 2-4 on the season.
Nick Sirianni is struggling in his first year as a head coach. His offense and defense are both middle of the pack in an NFC East that is already much more challenging than last year.
Does Sirianni deserve to take responsibility for yesterday’s controversial taunting penalty?
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