Of all the challenges lurking amid the competitive carnage of an NFL game, getting a knee by the coach himself is usually not one of them.
Well, unless you’re a Philadelphia Eagle, who on Sunday was called on to fight and fight the Washington Football Team only to see coach Doug Pederson effectively corner the game by pulling out holder Jalen Hurts in the fourth half of what he was, at season, a 17-14 game.
Hurts was replaced by Nate Sudfeld, the third stringer / reserve / quarterback of the franchise’s training team in what can only be described as a farce broadcast on national television.
Sudfeld promptly launched an interception and then missed a fumble. He completed just five passes for 32 yards, as the Eagles never threatened to score again. Washington received a gift-wrapped 20-14 win that won the NFC East Championship and a home playoff on Saturday night with Tom Brady and Tampa Bay.
We cannot say with certainty that the eagles entered Sudfeld in an effort to launch the game in order to improve their draft status (the defeat means that they will choose sixth place over ninth with a win). However, if they were trying to launch the game to improve their draft status … well, inserting Sudfeld would be a very effective way of doing this.
“I was training to win,” said Pederson later, noting that he was not taking orders from the board. “That was my decision alone. Nate has been here for four years, obviously, and I feel like he deserves an opportunity to take some pictures. ”
Only Pederson knows if he is speaking the truth, but even if he were, the answer would not make sense. Did they deserve it? The team’s competitive interests – the chance to win a very viable game – weren’t as important as what he thought an individual player “deserved?”
What is it, Pop Warner?
“The plan this week was to give Nate some time and I thought it was time to put him in the game,” said Pederson.
In the fourth period of a three-point game with implications for the playoffs, even for the opposing team?
Sudfeld was summoned in 2016. This was his fourth appearance in the regular season. He’s not good enough. Certainly, it would be understandable to reward Sudfeld with playing time if the scoreboard was out of control, in one way or another. But it was not.
And even if the Eagles are wasting playing time based on their feelings, why not put Hurts back in the game, at least in the last two games with the victory still possible? Sudfeld had his photos. Why stay with him? How was this humiliation fair to him?
“Listen,” continued Pederson, “if there’s anything out there that thinks I wasn’t trying to win the game, I mean, [Zach] Ertz is out there, Brandon Graham is out there, Darius Slay is out there, all of our best guys are still on the pitch at the end.
“We were going to win the game.”
Apparently, those guys didn’t “deserve” to have the best defender available on the field in an attempt to honor their efforts with a victory. Unless you think that playing squaders is a cutting edge strategy now.
Meanwhile, Hurts remained on the sideline with a look that could be described as disbelief. He was not alone (not to mention the bitter New York Giants watching from home who needed a win in Philadelphia to make the playoffs).
“As a competitor, I play to win,” said Hurts. “You know, you have to trust the coach for this.”
You would think that the novice could use all the experience he could get in games played. You would also think that the franchise would covet the opportunity to see what it can do in such a situation. The Eagles’ off-season will be dominated by the quarterback’s decision – former starter Carson Wentz, who did not dress on Sunday, is potentially a commercial lure.
“I knew Nate worked hard all year,” said Hurts. “And I think he’s a great player and the coach wanted to give him an opportunity at some point in the game. … Me being a competitor, talking about winning all the time, that’s what I want. I trust the coach with this. That’s all I can do. “
How many eagles trust Pederson now is a fair question. Philly sat down with several top players, which is not uncommon in Week 17 of the NFL. Still, those who dress and receive beatings and bruises expect an honest effort.
Pederson knows that. He played 10 seasons in the league.
After that, he said he didn’t think it would affect the team’s “culture”, but playing Sudfeld essentially said that all of the players’ efforts last week in practice, not to mention the game, didn’t matter so much.
In the end, rival Washington celebrated in Philly’s field and then shouted in the locker room. All the Eagles players could do was get out, potentially for the last time for guys like Ertz, Wentz, Jason Kelce and others whose time with this once-proud franchise could end.
Maybe they “deserved” something better, but, hey, the sixth choice of the draft was guaranteed.
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