5 Highlight Plays in Week 5: Another Sirianni Mistake, Plus Giants and Commanders Both Pick Up a Win

Bad news, Eagles fans: your coach is back on the “highlights” list, and not in a good way.

For a second straight week, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles found themselves on the wrong end of a game they absolutely should have won.

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In Week 4, he coughed up a 10-point lead at home against the Rams. Sunday, the game started with a lead with eight seconds remaining…and somehow lost to the Jaguars in London.

Keeping it in the NFC East, we also had a game where both teams arguably coughed up a “safe” overtime win. Perhaps it’s only fitting that there were no NFC East wins in Week 5, even with two division teams facing off.

We also looked well beyond the NFC East to find the biggest plays from Week 5 that dramatically changed the course of the games.

1. The Eagles actually lost before the games kicked off

Yes, you can absolutely wonder why Nick Sirianni kicked a team with no timeouts after taking the lead with just eight seconds left. It’s a fair criticism, and it ultimately cost the Eagles the game.

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But the way they mismanaged the clock before that point cannot be dismissed. They had a chance to end it Before the kick-off that followed.

On second-and-10 from the Jacksonville 34-yard line with 21 seconds left and the Jaguars leading 16-14, the Eagles threw a quick play to rookie Makai Lemon. It was a good play, scoring 7 yards and improving field position for the go-ahead run that Jake Elliott would eventually make.

But there was too much time on the clock and Lemon went out of bounds after his catch, stopping the clock with 17 seconds left. If Lemon had just caught the ball and fallen inbounds, the Jaguars would have been forced to call their final timeout around the same time, or maybe a second or two less.

On third down, the Eagles could have run the ball and called a timeout with just seconds remaining. That would have made Elliott’s kick the final play of the game, win or lose. Then there’s no kickoff to worry about.

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That’s it. That’s all they had to do.

The worst part was that the Jaguars called a timeout before the first down after the Eagles made a big play to get into field goal territory. (And they even did Philly a favor, letting 20 seconds elapse before burning it.) That should have given Siranni enough time to explain to his players how to handle a catch and that they should not go out of bounds.

Instead, with the clock stopped after Lemon’s catch, the Jaguars used their final timeout after Dameon Pierce’s third down. There were only eight seconds left when Elliott kicked off for the Jaguars, but it took a virtual eternity as Ameer Abdullah returned the kickoff that set up Cam Little’s miracle game-winner.

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Every call from Jaguars head coach Liam Coen on Sunday seemed to backfire, and yet one simple play — well, two really — came back to bite Sirianni. It’s now been two straight weeks where the Eagles were in a dominant position to win every game and ended up losing both.

2. The Commanders blew OT, but so did the Giants

The commanders botched the end of overtime as badly as possible. They had the ball, enough time and tries to win the game and Jayden Daniels seemed to have no idea what was going on.

Blame Daniels, blame Dan Quinn – both are fair game.

It was also the rare game where one could reasonably feel equal resentment about how both teams handled their chances of winning. The Giants should have won, too, even though the Commanders led 14 with eight minutes remaining.

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Not to mention Washington’s self-inflicted errors, missing an extra point and committing critical penalties, including one that erased a Jameis Winston interception. The Giants had the ball and just needed to put together a game-winning kick attempt.

They were in business with first-and-10 at the Washington 24-yard line in overtime, under the two-minute timeout and with the Commanders out of timeouts. All they had to do was run three times, center the ball where Dominic Zvada wanted it and walk away victorious. An ugly winner, no doubt, but better than a loss or a draw.

Instead, Cam Skattebo fumbled — the one thing he couldn’t do. The Commanders recovered, moved the ball 53 yards in six plays and should have won, if not for Daniels’ heroics.

When time ran out and the game was still tied, Skattebo breathed a sigh of relief. He was lucky his fumble didn’t result in a loss for the Giants. It should have been a victory.

3. 49ers rookie delivers massive play and huge win

The 49ers victory 32-29 against the Seahawks featured 12 scoring drives, but it was really a defensive crusher for the most part. There was no more important play in that regard than just before halftime.

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The 49ers took an early lead, but the Seahawks began to tip the scales in their favor, perhaps inspired by the ejection of Dre Greenlaw from the 49ers. After cutting the 49ers’ lead to 14-13, the Seahawks forced a punt, which was downed at the Seattle one-yard line.

That backed the Seahawks into the final 20 seconds of the half, and they couldn’t just bleed the clock as the 49ers had all three timeouts remaining. On the first play, disaster struck the home team: 49ers defensive tackle Gracen Halton stripped Seahawks running back George Holani in the end zone and recovered the fumble for a touchdown.

That made the score 21-13, San Francisco, at halftime. The Seahawks got the ball back to start the third quarter, but instead of being able to take the lead, the best they could have done was tie the game.

Certainly, there were three lead changes in the second half after that point. But the 49ers needed every score they could get on the road, and this possession was a huge boost at a critical time when the winds had changed Seattle’s direction.

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Rookie Halton had a huge game, also adding a sack, two big runs and a pressure on Sam Darnold’s fourth-down pass to Cooper Kupp that came within inches of a first down, handing the game back to the 49ers.

4. The Browns miss several chances to beat the Jets

The Cleveland Browns have been one of the best stories in the league, going 3-1 through the first month of the season, but they lost Sunday’s game against the Jets. Even though the momentum had shifted in the Browns’ favor by the fourth quarter, they were never able to capitalize on the opportunities they had.

It all started in the fourth quarter. On the first play of the fourth, Browns rookie Emmanuel McNeil-Warren intercepted Geno Smith on third down, but Maliek Collins jumped offside, negating the interception and moving the Jets within field goal range. Jason Sanders hit a 54-yard field goal to extend Cleveland’s deficit to 10-6.

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A little more than 30 seconds of play later, the Browns were back in business in Jets territory after Isaiah Bond’s 30-yard catch. What followed: illegal formation penalty, sack, delay of game, then another sack. He moved the ball from the New York 45-yard line to the Cleveland 27. The Browns punted on fourth-and-38.

The Jets did the Browns a favor by scoring on fourth-and-1 with more than 10 minutes left, and Cleveland marched down the field for the go-ahead score after trailing for most of the game. The missed extra point didn’t help, but it wasn’t the Browns’ most fateful mistake.

Smith’s lost fumble at his own 43-yard line with 4:20 left was a huge gift, but the Browns couldn’t do anything with the ball, using just 19 seconds of clock time. On fourth-and-10, the Jets punted – or attempted to. The rain-soaked snap flew over Corey Bojorquez’s head and the Jets scored a touchdown three plays later to take the lead.

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The Browns had two possessions in the final 3:01 of the game, but couldn’t do anything with either. That fateful sequence with the missed PAT and botched snap helped turn a potential Browns advantage into a rain-soaked Jets win.

5. Chargers’ biggest blow came before Herbert’s late turnovers

The Chargers fell to 0-5, but they had real plans in their first win of the season. Once again, Justin Herbert’s fourth-quarter turnovers – his fifth and sixth of the season – were at the center of the story.

But the roots of the Chargers’ 23-17 loss to the Broncos also go back to one possession earlier.

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The Chargers took their first lead late in the third quarter on Kimani Vidal’s 42-yard run, immediately after Tuli Tuipulotu forced and recovered a Bo Nix fumble. The Broncos had seemed stagnant offensively for most of the game, even with Sean Payton taking over playmaking duties.

The teams traded punts, as the Chargers defense held strong all game, and when Wil Lutz missed a 42-yard field goal try, it felt like maybe it was LA’s day. But Herbert and the offense couldn’t do enough to help secure the victory.

The Chargers lost their little dose of offensive motivation and stalled at the worst time. Herbert rushed on third-and-9, and he was scored just short of the line to win at their own 41 yard line – about the length of the football. Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel called for a stealth QB, and Herbert has been very effective on those during his career, but he immediately stood up and stopped short.