Nick Sirianni opens up about how referees could award touchdown in NFC Championship Game

Nick Sirianni led the Philadelphia Eagles to their second Super Bowl appearance in the past three seasons after defeating the Washington Commanders 55-23 in Sunday's NFC Championship Game. He recently opened up on a sequence during that game, where the Commanders' defenders kept jumping offsides to prevent a 'tush push' touchdown.

The Eagles head coach revealed that he was aware the referees could award a touchdown, stating:

"I actually was. We had a coach that I was with that did game management with the Chargers, [former Chargers Offensive Staff and current Jets Special Teams Coordinator/Game Management Coordinator Dan Shamash] Smash. I don’t remember where we were talking about it, but I remember us talking about it. ‘Hey, they can award a touchdown in a moment like this.’

"You know what, I do remember why we were talking about it. If you were on the 1 with not a lot of time left, the defensive back kept holding, why not keep holding – whatever it was, I don’t remember. That’s why I shouldn’t have gone into it. But I remember him telling me, ‘If you do that enough times in a row, the referee can award them a touchdown.’ I remember saying to Smash, ‘That’s not a rule. Are you out of your mind?’

"I remember saying that to him. ‘That’s not a rule.’ I remember him being very emphatic with me because he knows the rules really well and telling me it was. I texted him after the game. I’m like, Smash, you were right. We have talked about that since, so we did know that in that scenario. I said to the referees on the sideline, ‘Hey, they keep doing this, it can be a touchdown, right?’ They said, ‘Yeah, that’s correct.’" [h/t eagles.1rmg.com]

While the referees did not award a touchdown, the Eagles wound up scoring one when they were finally able to run the play.

Nick Sirianni added that he did not really find it funny that the Commanders were jumping offsides as he was concerned over the health of his players.

Nick Sirianni backed Jalen Hurts from criticism

Jalen Hurts has received plenty of criticism despite finding tremendous success throughout his football career. Nick Sirianni backed the two-time Pro Bowler following the NFC Championship Game, stating:

"He's won his entire life. If you're winning as a quarterback, it's more important than any stat. I'm sure it'll be the same thing, like, 'Oh, he's got great players around him.' Well, you tell me a quarterback that's won like this that has s**t around him. It don't happen, right? ... The guys that have been so good at this position have had great players around."

Check out Nick Sirianni's full comments on criticism surrounding Jalen Hurts below:

Hurts finished with 246 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in the NFC Championship Game. He completed 71.4% of his pass attempts and added 16 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries.