We know that tank shooting is not fun for the players, but for sports fans it provides an engaging mind exercise. Talking heads can fill hours of radio over the idea. Fans can consume those hours of content. Reasonable people can end up on either side of the debate, and that’s OK.
As long as teams get higher draft slots to lose more games – or better chances of earning a higher draft pick, there will be an incentive to refuel. And what we understand about tankers is that management gives coaches a meager closet of players and says good luck. Everyone with a sweater or a headpiece is supposed to give it their all.
That’s what made Doug Pederson’s refueling so scary on Sunday night. He violated the rules we all agreed upon. And therefore it does not feel right.
No, the league does not have to intervene in what Pederson did Sunday night. No one needs to talk to the driver here. And no, it does not bother me that it finally screwed the Giants out of a post-season outing. They should not have started 1-7, just to rely on one division enemy to defeat another enemy.
Pederson actively aggravated his team in the second half of a competitive game. Even though he gave up tips on his plans during the week, such as telling Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels during their production meeting that he wants to see what Nate Sudfeld has, it still does not have to go that way.
The first clear sign was not to take the points at the end of the third quarter. The Eagles put down a fourth goal of the 4, with 17-14. Washington’s offense was stagnant after the halftime, intercepting two three-and-out registrations and a first-half in its third second half. After not getting into the end zone five times from within the 10-yard line, the game was here to kick the target shooting field goal and tie up a game that was still 17 minutes left to play. Even the analysis say so!
I shudder to think what depths Pederson would have gone if Jalen Hurts had actually completed that fourth-pass pass. Nevertheless, it was the Sudfeld show after that, and he displayed a level of play that deserved the Arena Football League.
“Yeah, I was winning, yeah, that was my decision,” Pederson said after the game. “Of course Nate has been here for four years and I felt he deserved a chance to get some snaps. Listen, if there’s anyone who thinks I did not want to win the game, you know, (Zach) Ertz is there, (defensive end) Brandon Graham is there, (cornerback) Darius Slay is there All our top guys are still on the field and we would win the game.
“Early on, this week’s plan was to get Nate for a while, and I felt it was time to get him in the game.”
Sudfeld committed two turnovers within his first five plays on the field. He ended the game 5-for-12 for 32 yards while being sacked on two other setbacks. Sudfeld has been with the Eagles and Pederson since 2017. He is a 27-year-old quarterback. What he brings to the team at this point should be known.
And because it should be known, I believe Pederson did know it. And what he understood was that Sudfeld gave the Eagles the best chance of losing. Coaches are not supposed to tackle the trucks for decisions in the game, and so it is so blatant that it has to pull a more capable fullback in the fourth quarter of a ball game with one score.
No, it’s not like resting important beginners before the game. The Chiefs are not trying to lose the game against the Chargers by resting Patrick Mahomes, Sammy Watkins and Tyreek Hill. Are they trying their best to win the match? Of course not, but we, as football fans, understand that they weighed the risk of injury in a pointless game to repeat as Super Bowl champions, and decided that some players deserve a 0% risk and others can go there go and play.
Did the Steelers try to throw their game against the Browns? After all, it was a division game where Pittsburgh could build up their comeback victory in Week 16 against Indianapolis, possibly the no. 2 in the AFC playoffs and the hated Browns were knocked out of the playoffs.
Mike Tomlin again did not offer his most competitive team. However, he makes decisions about the composition of his team based on competitive reasons. He would rather win next week (coincidentally against the Browns) with a healthy roster than win in Week 17 with a roster that could be lifted by the game card weekend.
The fact is that the decisions of Reid and Tomlin and every other right-minded coach in late-season games have been rooted in competition over decades. Live to fight another day. Do not shoot all your bullets. Choose your axiom.
The closest thing to tank games in the game that comes to mind is the 2014 Week 17 game between the 2-13 Buccaneers and 6-9 Saints. The Bucs built up a 20-7 lead and Lovie Smith drew linebacker Mike Evans, linebacker Lavonte David and others, for the second half. The Bucs maintained the lead in the fourth quarter before the Saints returned.
And at 20-14 with 5:33 left to play in the game, on the third-and-5 near midfield, quarterback Josh McCown tries his first pass of the second half that was intercepted. (See! Even they were still trying to win at this point.) This gave the Saints a short field to give the lead and eventually win the game. At 2-14, the Bucs held the break-even point for the overall No. 1 over the Titans and selected Jameis Winston.
I want phrases like protect the integrity of the game. I’m not that man. But Pederson is engaged in coaching behaviors that aggravate his team in moments where we learn from an early age that it’s Go Time.
I do not believe Pederson tried to lose the game. I believe his attitude shifted to more than OK to lose in the second half. He achieved a certain comfort by losing during a match that should be disapproving for anyone who appreciates competition. And he did so without preparing his players like a coach by announcing that he started earlier in the week.
Pederson’s tank method is unique. He clearly took part in the match with the assurance that he would be back next season. Because he is a smart man, he realizes that there is a difference between the overall number 9 and the number 6 in the 2021 concept. And if he and Howie Roseman want to pull up, it’s better to pick the sixth choice than the ninth.
Maybe the Eagles will get a franchise-changing player where they pick in April. Perhaps this is the biggest step for the organization since Philly Philly. But it did cost Pederson.
His players know what he did. We all know what he did. And you can use the crackling logic you want to use to explain it away, but a deliberate, tanking in the game took place Sunday night. And I hope no other coach got any idea.