Eagles coach Doug Pederson said it was his decision to go for a fourth-and-8 from the New York Giants’ 43-yard line in Sunday’s 27-24 win, and it was made after consultation with an assistant coach who offers the data about converting a given play.
“My number that we went off of… was 33 percent [conversion rate],” Pederson said. “And it’s a basically a half percentage point actually in our favor, and it comes down to basically a 50/50. Where we were on the field comes down to my decision, so it was my decision ultimately.”
Owner Jeffrey Lurie said earlier this month that the Eagles analyze fourth-down decisions during the offseason and decisions in games in almost all cases are made based on math, not instincts.