SEATTLE -- Doug Pederson should be pretty happy the Eagles are staying on the west coast this week.
He probably wouldn't want to be around to hear talk radio in Philly.
The Eagles lost 24-10 to the Seahawks (see observations), and this week is going to feel a lot like 2016, with plenty of folks questioning the head coach's decisions. While it would be unfair to pin the loss on Pederson, Sunday night didn't seem like his best game.
Here's what he said about several important calls and plays:
On punting with 18 seconds left in the first half
"We were prepared. We had discussed going for it in that situation. I think there was 18 seconds with a couple timeouts, a chance to go and possibly kick the field goal. It's just the decision I made at the point because we were getting the ball again at the start of the second half. Flip the field a little bit, nice punt backed them up, but there was a time there that I considered going for it. I just didn't want to give them a short field potentially with maybe 15 seconds, with timeouts, then they get three points instead of us."
On punting on 4th-and-1 from their own 47-yard line in the first quarter
"It was early in the game. I made the decision to punt the football, flip the field."
On the failed 4th-and-3 pitch play to Kenjon Barner in the fourth
"Fourth-and-3 is a great opportunity. We had them sort of back against the wall a little bit, a great opportunity. Felt that we were going to get the front coverage we expected, and we had a man-beater called. Offense just failed to execute on the play."
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On the lost spot challenge in the third
"Nothing on the field, but upstairs felt like the challenge was legit. We felt like we had the line to gain. Sometimes those are tough, but at the same time we felt good, and with the information I got upstairs."
On not challenging the Russell Wilson lateral
"Real time, it looked fine. It looked legit. We didn't get all the necessary looks. They hustled to the line, but at the same time, it looked good, and I trust the guys upstairs making those decisions and didn't challenge that. I already challenged one in the half and lost that, so I didn't want to risk another timeout."
