Doug Pederson Rolled the Dice in Similar Super Bowl Situation Nick Sirianni Faced

The former Eagles coach gambled on fourth-and-one in Super Bowl LII after NE went up by a point late; with a little more time left and not as close to midfield, Sirianni punted

Hindsight is always 20-20.

Nick Sirianni wasn’t having any of it when he was asked to revisit his decision on fourth-and-three in Super Bowl LVII.

The Chiefs had just taken their first lead of the game at 28-27 when Philly arrived at their own 32 facing a fourth-and-three with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter. Staring at a decision to go for it or punt just three plays after KC had gone ahead for the first time, Sirianni said he never thought twice about punting.

“I know I've been aggressive all year going for it," said Sirianni several days after the Eagles lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-35. "Really trust our guys in scenarios. I think fourth-and-3, on your own (32)? Yeah, I think you would get 32 out of 32 NFL coaches saying they punt that ball every time, 32 out of 32.”

Well, there was one a few years ago, who thought differently, and it was a decision that helped win a Super Bowl.

That was Doug Pederson in Super Bowl LII.

The differences: There were 4 minutes, and 54 seconds less in the game for Pederson, the former coach's offense was 13 yards closer to midfield, and Pederson had only one yard to get, not the three Sirianni did.

Big differences, perhaps, but to win in big moments, sometimes it is necessary to gamble.

That’s what Pederson did in 2018 when he kept Nick Foles on the field to attempt a first-down conversion at the Eagles' 45-yard line with 5:39 to play.

The Eagles had just lost a lead it held all game to the New England Patriots, falling behind 33-32 on a touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski with 9:22 to go in the game.

Heck, even the halftime scores in the two Super Bowls were the same – 10-point Eagles leads.

Sirianni’s group was ahead at the break, 24-14; Pederson’s was up 22-12.

So, Pederson arrives at fourth-and-one and instead of punting the ball to the Patriots, whose Brady-led offense couldn’t be stopped by Jim Schwartz's defense - sound familiar to this year’s Super Bowl and Jonathan Gannon's unit? – Pederson dialed up a short, quick throw to tight end Zach Ertz.

Ertz gained just enough for the first, needing forward progress to move the ball beyond the chains after he was driven back by the tackle.

Foles handled it from there, directing his offense down the field for an 11-yard, third-down TD throw to Ertz with 2:25 to go and the Eagles had the lead again, never to surrender it again en route to a 41-33 win over the dynasty Patriots.

Sirianni was so adamant about punting when faced with his own decision in the crucible of a big moment that he said he had to be prepared by the Eagles PR staff to be ready to face such a question about the possibility of actually going for it at that point in the game.

“Until I was prepped for this question…it didn't really come to my mind,” he said.

In fairness to Sirianni, he did go for a pair of fourth downs on a drive that put the Eagles ahead 21-14, a drive that came right after Jalen Hurts’ fumble that led to a 36-yard scoop-and-score TD from Chiefs LB Nick Bolton.

Nor did he know that by punting on fourth-and-three Kadarius Toney would take advantage of a bad directional punt from Arryn Siposs and return the ball 65 yards to Philly’s 5 and go up 35-27 just 2:42 after taking its first lead.

“Hey, if I had known they were going to return it to the (5), in hindsight, I think obviously I would have gone for it there,” said the coach, “but no regrets there on that. That is not in my thought process right there.”

Sirianni’s thought process didn't change when faced with a fourth-and-6 on a drive after the Chiefs sliced into the Eagles lead, making it 24-21 on their first possession of the second half. The coach opted for a 33-yard field goal on fourth-and-6 from the Chiefs’ 15.

The drive had lasted 17 plays and used 7:45. Those are drives that, during the regular season, turned into touchdowns.

Sirianni said that going for it wasn’t in his mindset, either, saying, “we're up three, going to go up six.”

It was a decision, however, that delivered an impending sense of doom to WR A.J. Brown.

“When we went up 27-21,” he said, “I knew deep down that it was probably a chance we were probably going to lose.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.