Head coach Nick Sirianni did not blame the referees for the Eagles’ 21-17 loss to the Broncos on Sunday afternoon.

The Eagles have themselves to blame.

“Yeah, obviously, I’ve been around this long enough where calls, they balance each other out,” Sirianni said. “I know sometimes there’s always going to be like, ‘Well, we get screwed in this one.’ I don’t think that way. They all balance each other out.”

By the end of the game, the Eagles were penalized 9 times for 55 yards, while the Broncos were penalized 12 times for 121 yards.

But there were several key calls against the Eagles in this game that needed further explanation and we got some explanations from referee Adrian Hill, who spoke with Philly pool reporter Zach Berman after the Eagles’ loss.

No intentional grounding

The top question was why the flag for intentional grounding on Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was picked up in the fourth quarter with 3:34 left. Jalyx Hunt provided the pressure and a flag came out after Nix’s 2nd-and-6 pass fell incomplete. But then it was picked up.

“So what happened there, we have an O2O – that’s our official-to-official communication system,” Hill said. “My O2O was not working. Grounding is a teamwork foul. I had intentional grounding. The line judge had that there was a receiver in the area – 28 – but I didn’t hear the information over O2O so I threw the flag. The line judge came in and let me know that 28 indeed was in the area, and that’s why we picked up the flag.”

After that flag was picked up, the Broncos converted on a 3rd-and-6 and were able to cap that drive with a field goal to put them up 4 points.

No DPI on Goedert

There were several other calls in that game that warranted further explanation too. The last came on the penultimate play of the game, which was an incompletion to Dallas Goedert down the right sideline.

It looked like it might have been defensive pass interference, which would have given the Eagles the ball deep in Broncos territory with a chance to win the game. But the flag stayed in the refs pocket.

“So our officials saw mutual hand fighting and hand-to-hand combat,” Hill said, “and did not see action that rose to the level of a foul on that play”

Instead of getting the ball inside the 5-yard line, the Eagles had one shot from the Broncos’ 29-yard line and the final pass fell incomplete as time expired.

What did Goedert think of the no-call?

“They obviously didn’t throw a flag,” he said. “Have to go back and see it on tape. But it would have been investing to see what would have happened down there.”

Unnecessary roughness on Baun

In the fourth quarter with just 2:27 left, the Broncos faced a 3rd-and-2 and the Eagles were able to stop them after a 1-yard gain on a Drew Mukuba tackle. But Zack Baun lowered his shoulder on RJ Harvey at the end of the play and was penalized.

“So the officials saw we had a prone player on the ground,” Hill said, “and he came in and hit the player that was prone on the ground when the play was over.”

The Broncos got a fresh set of downs after that play. Even though they eventually settled for a field goal, they were able to kill more clock and eventually left the Eagles with just 1:06 for their final possession.

“Short-yardage situation,” Baun said. “He was fighting for extra yards and we’re taught to cap off in those situations. I didn’t think he was down. One ref threw the flag. It was a (subjective) penalty. I thought it could have gone either way.”

The illegal shift

The Eagles converted on a 4th-and-4 from their own 49-yard line with a deep shot to DeVonta Smith but it was called back for an illegal shift on Saquon Barkley. Instead of a 30-yard gain and a chance to retake the lead, the Eagles were forced to punt on 4th-and-8 with just over 5 minutes remaining.

“Two players went in motion,” Hill said. “So, by rule, when two players go in motion, both have to reset for a second before the snap. One player stopped, but 26 continued in motion, so that’s what created the illegal shift. They didn’t both reset for a full second.”

The Eagles were up against the play clock and were trying to get the snap off in time and Barkley didn’t have enough time to reset. Barkley after the game said he owned that mistake.

“Just gotta be detailed better,” Barkley said. “Definitely could have came back faster.”