Doug Pederson on Monday morning went on the 94WIP Morning Show and admitted he should have called a timeout before the Eagles’ ill-fated two-point conversion late in Sunday’s 30-28 loss.
The Eagles scored a touchdown right after the 2-minute warning but their two-point conversion failed and they lost by two.
“I look back on it today and I believe I still had the timeout in that situation,” Pederson said on Monday morning. “I think that maybe the best call could have been the timeout to really think things through. At least give us more time, from a coaching standpoint, to make a better decision at that time.”
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This is the second time in four weeks that Pederson has gone on the WIP Morning Show on a Monday and admitted fault. He also did so after punting for a tie against the Bengals in Week 3.
The Eagles still had their third timeout in pocket late in Sunday’s game but instead got their call in late, had to rush to the line and ran a play that seemed doomed. They ran a zone read behind an offensive line in shambles and without their starting running back.
That look alone from the Ravens should have been enough to call a timeout.
Had Pederson taken a timeout, maybe he would have realized it was a situation where he needed to let Carson Wentz try to tie the game. Wentz had just led the Eagles down the field, running around and making plays, to put them in that position.
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Pederson was asked on Monday morning if Wentz had the authority to call a timeout there as well.
“Yeah, he could have,” Pederson said. “But I don’t expect him to really … it’s our job to put our players in position to be successful or at least have an attempt to be successful. He has, obviously the quarterback and head coach are the two guys who can do that. That falls on me to run down there and do that.”
Even though the Eagles didn’t call a timeout, they still had extra time to think about what play they were going to run for the two-point try. Before Wentz’s 1-yard touchdown run to pull them within two, the Eagles had the 2-minute warning. Pederson on Monday said at that point the Eagles already knew which play they wanted for the two-point try. It was just the wrong one, especially against that look from the Ravens.
Pederson on Monday said the Eagles by that point in the game had actually already exhausted all of the red zone plays on his call sheet so they began to pick out some plays from the other parts of the sheet.
Pederson’s call in that situation wasn’t a very good one. If he gave himself a little more time to think about it on the field, he probably would have realized it.