The Eagles scored a touchdown with 1:39 remaining in regulation to get within one point of the Cowboys in a game they never led. They faced a decision: They could attempt to tie it with an extra point -- Jake Elliott missed one earlier in the game -- or they could try to take their first lead with a two-point attempt.
The Eagles are 5-for-5 on two-point tries this season.
Doug Pederson chose to kick the extra point, and the Eagles never saw the ball again.
“I got a report on this,” the Eagles coach said in his press conference Monday. “I can’t off the top of my head think of exactly the numbers, but everything was in favor of going for one. We had the discussion on the field during the penalty timeout, so to speak, to make that decision. And with Dallas having a minute and 39 seconds I think left with two timeouts, it changes. Follow me here, OK? Two situations. [The first is] go for two. Obviously, you make the two-point conversion and you’re up one, right? Dallas has two timeouts and every down available to stay on the field and kick the game-winning field goal, right? Obviously, if we don’t make it, chances are game is probably over, right?
"[The second situation is] we kick it, we tie. Now Dallas still has two timeouts. Now, they’re not as likely to go for it on fourth down, right? There is a chance now fourth-and-eight that they say, ‘You know what? We’re going to punt the football.’ We only have one timeout at the time, with maybe no time left, and you’re still playing for overtime. So the decision to go for one obviously favors us and gives us a better chance of winning that football game than it did for two.”
A reporter reminded Pederson he authored a book after last season called “Fearless.” Pederson reiterated the Eagles “played the percentages” that gave them the best chance to win.
“I understand what you’re saying,” Pederson said. “Again, with two timeouts and all four downs and we hadn’t really stopped them -- we can spin this thing a hundred different ways. I mean, I don’t know. I still stand by my decision.”
It just didn’t work out for the Eagles this time as the Cowboys scored the game-winning touchdown on the first possession of overtime after running out the final 1:39 to end regulation