Doug Pederson’s Tank Job Was Inexcusable: NFL Players, Analysts, and Former Players React
The Philadelphia Eagles and their Head Coach Doug Pederson’s Tank Job, has become national NFL headlines
“You play to win the game”. Those are the infamous words that once came out of the great Herm Edwards mouth. Apparently Doug Pederson didn’t get the memo. We all know tanking in the NFL, or in any sport, isn’t really a new phenomenon. It happens, but in subtle ways. For instance, a team may gut it’s roster and go with the young and inexperienced players, to rebuild and start a new program. It’s still tanking, but not in a way that hurts the integrity of the game because there is a plan in place and a reason for it. In other instances, a team that has failed to live up to expectations may sit out their starters for the rest of the season to prevent injury and to see what they have in the young players that are on the roster. These subtle ways of tanking aren’t really an issue for the integrity of the NFL, it’s fanbase, viewers and bottom-line business.
You can sell a fanbase on the idea of tanking if you’re looking to rebuild or are out of playoff contention and want to see the young guys play. However, the awful display of tanking by Doug Pederson on a Nationally televised game against the Washington Football Team Sunday night, has many fans, current players, former players, and analysts disgusted by the blatant lack of integrity, honor, and respect. That was a disrespectful display on a nationally televised Sunday night NFL Game. Disrespect, to fans of the NFL product, to potentially new viewers who were watching, and most importantly to the players, both current and former.
During his postgame press conference, Coach Pederson was asked if he made the decision solely on his own to have Nate Sudfeld ready to play before the game and if he played to win the game. His Response:
“Yes I was coaching to win…yes that was my decision solely… Nate has been here for four years (Quarterback Nate Sudfeld, the Quarterback who took over for Starter Jalen Hurts) and deserved an opportunity to get some snaps”…
Pederson was also asked why he would take out Hurts being down only three heading into the fourth Quarter. Pederson’s response:
“Pretty simple…the plan this week was to get Nate some time and I felt like it was the time to get him in the game.”
The Problem with Pederson’s quotes:
If you have a Quarterback (Nate Sudfeld) that has been with you for four years and that hasn’t thrown a pass in two years (prior to this game), what exactly are you evaluating? You’ve had Nate Sudfeld on the roster for four years. If he were any good or worth giving an opportunity to, you would’ve done it sooner than the 4th Quarter of a game that was still in reach. If Nate Sudfeld deserved an opportunity to show what he could do, it should be a series of games, or a whole game, not the last 10 minutes of a game, that is once again, still in reach. Furthermore, if Nate Sudfeld were worth giving an opportunity to, then Jalen Hurts wouldn’t have been taken in the 2nd Round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Another issue with Pederson’s quotes is that they are very contradictory. On one hand, he says the plan was to evaluate and give Sudfeld an opportunity while still starting Jalen Hurts. On the other hand, he said he was trying to win the game. Those two scenario’s are not mutually compatible. If the plan is to get game reps for both Quarterbacks so that an evaluation can be made on one of them, then you are not trying to win the game. Playing two Quarterbacks is not a recipe for NFL success. If it were, teams would be doing it to win games. There’s only one Quarterback slot. The cliché of “if you have two Quarterbacks, you have none” rings true in this scenario.
Again, there's really no issue with Pederson wanting to evaluate Sudfeld and having a plan to evaluate and give him an opportunity. Just don’t go saying you were trying to win the game. Especially don’t say you were trying to win the game, when you are down only three points and bench your starter to give a Quarterback, who has been on your roster for four years an opportunity. That’s not fair to your players who played hard to win the game. That’s not fair to Jalen Hurts, who is playing for a Starting job next year. It’s certainly not fair to Nate Sudfeld, who didn’t deserve to be put in a position where his supposed “showcase” is little more than half a quarter of a close game. The icing on the cake for the horrible display of the disgraceful tank job, was when after two straight turnovers by Sudfeld, Pederson still trotted him out there with the game still in reach. If the Eagles were playing for something, would Nate Sudfeld have been trotted back out there by Doug Pederson? Absolutely and unequivocally not. The time to evaluate another Quarterback is not when your starter had your team within 3 points heading into the last Quarter and its especially not the time to stick with the change, when the Quarterback you subbed for, commits two straight turnovers in a winnable ball game. Doug Pederson isn’t fooling anyone with his post game excuses.
As we know, a lot was at stake for the New York Giants in this game. If the Eagles win, the Giants are headed to the postseason, so if there’s one team and it’s fan base that wasn’t too happy about the disgraceful display, it was G-men Nation.
Here are some tweets from some former and current New York Giants:
Eli Manning: “This is why we don’t like the Eagles”.
Saquon Barkley: “Can someone make it make sense to me what’s going on”….? Saquon replying to Eli Manning’s tweet.
Golden Tate: “Not Integrity” (This was in response to Saquon’s tweet reply of Eli Manning).
Darius Slayton: “Bruh”
Darius Slayton’s simple tweet and reaction that has hit the shockwaves through all major Sport media outlets, is a tweet that most NFL fans (who witnessed the atrocity on Sunday night) can relate to. This type of coaching and disgusting display of showmanship, leads questions to other huge issues at hand. Has Doug Pederson lost the locker room? Will he be returning as Eagles Head Coach? Was this his Lane Kiffin 76 yard Field Goal parting gift to the Eagles ownership and Front Office? You see, while we may not have the answers or know the answers to these questions now, the fact of the matter is, the truth will reveal itself and these questions will be answered whether Pederson remains the Head Coach or not. What we do know now, is that no matter how Doug Pederson wants to twist it, he tanked, in a blatantly distasteful way, with no integrity.
Here are some videos of analyst and or former NFL players who also, like my self, and many others, didn’t appreciate the lack of integrity Coach Pederson displayed on a nationally televised game;
The videos above were just some of the many already put out on other media outlets. A vast majority of those other Media outlets, sports personalities, bloggers, analysts, writers, and fans share the wide spread sentiment of distaste for Doug Pederson’s horrible display of gamesmanship. There’s turmoil in Philly, and a lot of off-Season changes seem to be on the horizon. We’ll stay tuned to watch what’s next in this controversial saga that is the Philadelphia Eagles. For now, congratulations to the Washington Football Team, you were handed a gift to make the Playoffs and have the honor of getting bounced in the first round by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Enjoy.
Jeffrey Genao is a Writer and Contributor for Top Level Sports. You can Read more of his Content at Top Level Sports. You can also Follow his Publication Below:
