Of all the challenges lurking in the midst of the competitive carnage of an NFL game, it’s usually not one of your own coaches to get hampered.
Well, unless you’re a Philadelphia Eagle, who was asked to fight and fight the Washington Football Team on Sunday only to effectively tackle coach Doug Pederson in the game by pulling Jalen Hurts in the fourth quarter of what was then a 17-14 match.
Hurts was replaced by Nate Sudfeld, the franchise’s longtime third player / backup / training group, which can only be described as a rural television joke.
Sudfeld immediately threw an interception and then lost a ploy. He completed just five passes for 32 yards as the Eagles never threatened to score again. Washington claimed a 20-14 victory with a gift that earned it the NFC East Championship and a home playoff date Saturday night with Tom Brady and Tampa Bay.
We can not say with certainty that Eagles put Sudfeld in an attempt to throw the game to improve their draft status (the loss means they will pick sixth rather than ninth with a win). However, if they’re trying to throw the game around to improve their draft status … well, inserting Sudfeld’s is a pretty effective way to achieve that.
“I was winning,” Pederson claimed afterward, noting that he had not received any instructions from the office. “It was just my decision. Nate has been here for four years of course and I felt he deserved an opportunity to get some screenshots. ‘
Only Pederson knows if he’s telling the truth, but even if he were, the answer makes no sense. Earn? The competitive interests of the team – the chance to win a very winning match – were not as important as what he ‘deserves’ according to an individual player?
What is it, Pop Warner?
“This week’s plan was to get Nate some time, and I thought it was time to get him in the game,” Pederson said.
In the fourth quarter of a three-point game with play-off implications, albeit for the opposing team?
Sudfeld was drafted in 2016. It was his fourth appearance in the regular season. He’s not good enough. It would certainly be understandable to reward Sudfeld with playing time if the score got out of hand somehow. However, it was not.
And even if the Eagles are now handing out playing time based on feelings, why not put Hurts back in the game, at least for the last two drives with another win? Sudfeld got his snaps. Why stick with him? How was this humiliation fair to him?
‘Listen,’ Pederson continued, ‘if there’s anything that I think I did not want to win the game, I mean, [Zach] Ertz is out there, Brandon Graham is out there, Darius Slay is out there, all of our top guys are still on the field at the end.
“We would win the game.”
The guys apparently did not ‘deserve’ to have the best quarterback on the field in an attempt to honor their efforts with a win. Unless you think exercise groups are now a cutting edge strategy.
Hurts, meanwhile, stood on the sidelines and wore a look that could fairly be described as disbelief. He wasn’t alone (and that doesn’t even count the bitter New York Giants watching from home who needed a win from Philly to get into the playoffs).
“As a contestant, I play to win,” Hurts said. “You know, you have to trust the coach with that.”
You would think that the rookie could use all the experience he could gain in a close game. You would also think that the franchise would desire the opportunity to see what it can do in such a situation. The Eagles’ season will be dominated by their quarterback decision – former starter Carson Wentz, who does not fit on Sunday, may be bait.
“I knew Nate worked very hard all year,” Hurts said. ‘And I think he’s an excellent player, and Coach wanted to give him a chance at some point in the game. … I’m a competitor and always talk about winning, that’s what I’m about. I trust Coach with that. That’s all I can do. ”
How much Eagles Pederson now trusts is a good question. Philly had several top players, which is not uncommon for Week 17 in the NFL. Those who take the beatings and the bruises still expect an honest effort.
Pederson knows this. He played ten seasons in the league.
He went on to say that he did not think it would affect the team’s’ culture ‘, but playing Sudfeld essentially says that all the players’ efforts over the past week have been put into practice, let alone the game, does not matter so much.
Eventually, the rival celebrated Washington on Philly’s field and then sacrificed it in the locker room. All the Eagles players could do was sink away, possibly for the last time for guys like Ertz, Wentz, Jason Kelce and others whose time with this once proud franchise could be over.
Maybe they better “earn”, but hey, the sixth choice in the draft is assured.
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