in the nfl - and college they have statisticians working for the coaching staff. they are often called "quality control" coaches. the probability of converting a 4th and 15 in your own territiry, on the road, is simply less than the probability of punting and playing defense. no one would be asking this question if the eagles defense simply stopped the saints from running the ball. everyone knew exactly what they were going to do - run-the-ball. AND, the eagles had 2 timeouts left. that is a world of time with such a potent offense. all they had to do was stop deuce mcallister.

the eagles loss had NOTHING to do with punting on 4th and 15.