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Doug Pederson On Failed Chiefs' Final Drive: Experienced Assistants Will Help In Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If Doug Pederson is the next Andy Reid, we better get used to some clock management issues.

The former Chiefs offensive coordinator -- now Eagles head coach -- has been openly criticized for the Chiefs' final drive in their Divisional playoff loss to the Patriots last weekend. Equally as confusing as the flawed drive itself, was Pederson's explanation for the sequence, saying he "did not want to give the ball back to Tom Brady."

Related: 10 Things From The Doug Pederson Press Conference

On Thursday, during his first radio interview since being named Eagles coach, Pederson doubled-down on his explanation.

Listen: Doug Pederson on the 94WIP Morning Show

 

"Did we get it done in that time?" Pederson told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show. "No we didn't, I'll be the first to admit it.

"Number one, was that, we did not want to give Tom Brady the ball back," he continued. "We wanted the ball with time and timeouts, which we had an opportunity at the end of that game to do. We didn't get the onside kick done, we failed in that area."

Ultimately, Pederson said his new experienced coordinators like Frank Reich and Jim Schwartz will help him with late-game situations and clock management issues.

"Going forward you learn from that," Pederson said. "That's why you bring guys like Frank Reich in, who have experience from other teams, that he might have another view point in those situations as we dive into the season. You bring in your Jim Schwartz's of the world, who have had experience in those situations and collectively you come up with your game plan going forward that again, in that situation, you can do either something differently or the same. But the bottom line was, in that game, timeouts of the essence when you've got a tremendous quarterback on the other side of the field that could really beat you and we just failed to get it done. So, great learning experience going forward and one that, again, with the men around me will help us make those choices the next time in that situation."

Related: LeSean McCoy Says Doug Pederson Will Succeed In Philly

Pederson, who was the Eagles' backup quarterback to then rookie Donovan McNabb in 1999 under Reid, talked about how the fans toughened him up. He even mentioned The Sign Man.

"About midway through the season, people were starting to talk about starting Donovan," Pederson said. "Or should you continue with Doug? And back then the Sign Man was out in full effect. The old Vet [Veterans Stadium], it was the Vet! We played our games in the Vet and it was difficult, but I'll tell you what --  I don't want to say -- it toughened me up. Let me say that."

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