The first half of the Week 3 game between the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles went very differently than expected. Philly was able to limit the Saints’ explosive offense to just three points in the first half, while the Eagles looked stupid after finishing the half with zero points.

Just before halftime, Philadelphia found themselves at the New Orleans 15-yard line with 14 seconds left in the half. Facing a fourth-and-1, the Eagles decided to go for it on first down rather than going into halftime with a tie. Of course, they lined up in their famous tush-push formation, but instead of running the usual quarterback sneak, the ball was handed off to Saquon Barkley.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, New Orleans came out strong: They stopped Barkley at the first-down line, kept Philadelphia from scoring, and made Nick Sirianni’s coaching decisions the talk of the town for another week.

Sirianni and Philadelphia have shown what they can do: In situations where short-range play is important, they give it their all. And the Eagles are usually successful in doing so. However, there have also been a few moments when they should have just taken the points, and this was the most recent example.

At the 15-yard line, that should be automatic for all NFL kickers. In this defensive battle, an equalizer would have been a big deal. Plus, the trade-off wouldn’t have even been that big if they had converted the ball. The Eagles would have had to take their last timeout after the conversion and would have had about 10 seconds left until halftime.

This means that Philly would have had two shots in the end zone at best. If the Eagles had failed on those two attempts, they would have had to score another field goal.

With one half to go, it is unclear how this decision will play out, but it is clear that the Eagles should have simply taken the points.

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