After the Giants took care of business against the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon, Giants fans everywhere gear up for a night of forcible support of the division rival Eagles against the Washington football team. Eagles win and New York will be your NFC East champion.
Instead, Philadelphia actually showed little interest in winning the game.
The Eagles lost, 20–14, due to a stretch in questionable decision making that was a sign of a team that was very much aware that it could have secured an improved draft spot by losing an otherwise meaningless game.
Bill Stretcher / USA Today Sports
Philadelphia picked up a game-tying chip shot late in the third quarter against a field goal attempt and converted it into a down-over. On his next possession, Doug Pederson sat quarterback Jalan Hurts — who scored the team’s only touchdowns in the night — in favor of Nate Sudfeld, who has been on the team for four seasons and appeared in just three matches previously. . In the end, the Eagles jumped into the game late in Washington’s clockwise drive on fourth-downs and inches, essentially sealing their fate.
Primarily, people around the league had some ideas in such a blatant tanking operation, chief among them being veteran players. Check out some of the faster responses:
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