On Sunday, week 17 of a wild season, an NFL team from Pennsylvania sat with little game or future in mind.
His opponent that day, an often dysfunctional rival for the division, needed a win to advance to the playoffs. Others in the league hoped the Pennsylvanians would triumph with postseason ambitions.
But trainers and management didn’t care. In the fourth quarter, they relied on their backup QB for a score. He came up short. And the opponent got a playoff place.
The Pennsylvania team were of course the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But it was the Philadelphia Eagles too.
What they did six hours apart on Sunday was essentially the same.
And yet, while the Steelers stroll forward proudly without being bothered by supposed moral flaws, the Eagles have become the scourge of the league. Legends are ashamed to be associated with them. Current players and fans call them “disrespectful to the game”.
Why?
What the Steelers did on Sunday – calm Ben Roethlisberger, TJ Watt and other veteran stars – has been commonplace in the league for years. Division champions who can only play seeding in week 17 often leave their best players at home. The Steelers effectively gave the Cleveland Browns a win-and-in game because they believed it would give them a better shot at a championship. In particular, they argued that ensuring Roethlisberger’s health and that of other stars was more beneficial in the long run than anything a week 17 win could bring them.
Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts scratches his head in the second half against the Washington Football team. (AP)
What the Eagles did on Sunday night was less commonplace. They also deactivated veterans from the playoff dispute. Then, in the fourth quarter of a close game against Washington, they moved their rookie quarterback for a third stringer.
Their rationale was very similar to that of Pittsburgh. They gave Washington a win-and-in game because it gave them a better shot at a championship. In particular, they could argue that in the long run, ensuring the long-term health of Jalen Hurts and moving up three points on the draft was more beneficial than anything a week 17 win could bring them.
The story goes on
Sound familiar?
The principle that is at the center of any criticism of Eagles is that NFL teams have a competitive obligation to try to win. And the Eagles didn’t do everything in their power to win on Sunday. That statement is true to some extent, regardless of what Doug Pederson says.
But did the Steelers?
Neither of them committed any wrongdoing, however, as the NFL’s moral code nowhere requires a team to try to win now. The Eagles tried to win another Super Bowl on Sunday. They couldn’t do that this year. Therefore, they have made an immediate sacrifice for a long-term benefit that will bring them closer to that goal in their mind. And that’s what NFL teams – like the Steelers – do all the time.
Long-term is of course a little longer in Philadelphia’s case than in Pittsburgh. Perhaps you could draw a semi-arbitrary line between seasons, arguing that the NFL teams have an obligation to try to win this season. But teams use starters for teenagers to plan for the future every year. Nobody groans that they don’t respect the sport. The Eagles’ apparent tank job took place on prime time after they flirted with the win, which is why so many red flags were raised. But the players on the field have not actively tried to lose. They fought just like Pittsburgh. So this was no different from the forward-looking hiring decisions we regularly see in the NFL.
“We have put a lot of money into this team in terms of money, free agents and trading in draft picks,” said Howie Roseman, Eagles general manager, on Monday. “There is a time when – that doesn’t mean we’re not trying to win – but there is a time when you have to turn around and understand what you’ve done and make sure you care about that, too take care of the team’s future. “
Indeed, there is a valid argument that it will backfire. That Pederson, as the public face of the tank job, will lose the players’ trust. That he’ll never shake it. These free agents will avoid him. That the team’s culture is rotting away. These are real, if not proven, risks.
But the eagles had every right to take them. They have every right to evaluate tangible assets – namely the sixth overall draft instead of the ninth – making a better choice of a player to help them win in 2021 and beyond – versus intangibles like locker room trust and morals. Just like the Steelers have the right to value a tangible asset – health – against intangible assets like dynamism and confidence in the playoffs.
For the same reason, the Eagles had the right to weigh the value of experience and the risk of injury and decide that three-quarters was the right time to play for Hurts. Pederson said Monday his “plan is to get Nate [Sudfeld] in the game “all the time.
We can argue about whether it was wise to lose. And maybe in two years we will look back on Sunday and find that it wasn’t.
But immoral? Unprincipled? Not correct?
The Eagles are just trying to win. That is their duty to the league, and they do it no more or less than the Steelers on Sunday, no more or less than 30 other teams ever. Stop treating it like a dishonorable anomaly.
More NFL from Yahoo Sports:
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.