I’ve been hearing it from a bunch of different people/places since Sunday Night, so let’s just get a couple of things straight.
Of course the Giants have only themselves to blame for not making the playoffs. Evan Engram is pretty much the biggest culprit for the Giants losing a few winnable games this season. How he got elected to the Pro Bowl is a bit of a mystery. Plus, none of the NFC East teams really had/have much of a shot of winning any playoff games anyway.
The biggest issue that I actually have with the Eagles game on Sunday Night is with Doug Pederson, and Doug Pederson alone! I actually feel bad for Eagles fans, as well as some of their players. It’s obvious that they wanted to win the game. The defense played a decent game, and kept the score close. They really could have won that game.
However, going for it on 4th down when they should have kicked the FG and tied the game, along with the benching of Hurts for a guy that played like he just suited up from his job at the concession stand. Not to mention all of the “healthy scratches” prior to the game. I mean, was he kidding? You’re suppose to play to win!
Didn’t he think the fans wanted to see a win? The players? It was so blatantly obvious to the entire world what he was doing! Well, I hope the whole 3 draft spots he gained by doing that helps him get that much better of a player that he could sleep better at night! Unless it’s just that he dislikes the Giants a bit more than he dislikes Washington!
I’m obviously kidding on that last point, but I say that because somehow I’d actually be less pissed off at what he did if it were for that reason rather that the real reason. I’d still be pissed off, but a bit less, oddly enough! Seriously though, the entire NFL should be pissed off at what Doug Pederson so blatantly did to the Draft on Sunday Night!
Let’s continue -
Once again, this isn’t about the Giants not getting into the playoffs. This is about what Doug Pederson did to the integrity of the game! As a Giants fan, I’m actually fine with the fact that the Giants finished with a win against the Cowboys on the last day of the season, maybe even a bit more so than a potential embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay next Saturday. Sure, it would have been nice to “win the NFC East”, but what does that actually mean this year anyway?!
The real story here is Pederson’s non-competitiveness. It was a point of pride for Philly! I know if the situation was reversed that I would have wanted the Giants to win their last game of the season against a divisional team, in pretty much a meaningless game as far as their control over it went. Oh wait, that’s pretty much exactly what happened for the Giants! Do you really think as a fan that I would have wanted to tank the game against the Cowboys just to move up a couple of draft spots, or for that matter stick it to Washington if the situation was indeed reversed? (kidding again)
No, this is about the message it sends to not only Eagles fans, but to their players as well! And for what? To move up three lousy spots in the draft order from 9 to 6?! Does he honestly think that’s gonna find him the next Tom Brady? Newsflash for you Doug, he was picked in the 6th Round, not with the 6th pick!
This is about finishing competitive, giving your fans and players something to feel a little good about heading into the off-season. And what about the players on expiring contracts, or maybe retiring this year? Do you think that was the way they wanted to finish this season, or their careers? What about the players that were potentially put in harms way because of it? Well Doug Pederson decided that none of that mattered. What a shame!
And the only reason that this means a little bit more to the Giants fan base is that it affected the Giants as well. Sure, the G-Men had plenty of opportunity to take care of business on their own, but that didn’t happen. Maybe things would be different if Barkley didn’t get hurt. Or if Jones didn’t get hurt, or threw a couple less INTs earlier in the season. Or if Evan Engram actually caught that pass in the first Philly game (not to mention some others). Not winning the NFC East is certainly on the Giants! It would have just been a nice little icing on the cake in an otherwise below average season amidst this long string of losing seasons. But that’s certainly by far not the reason for this rant!
Bottom line, if the situation was reversed, and Joe Judge did the same thing that Doug Pederson did on Sunday Night, I would be just as pissed off at him. Probably a lot more actually! Pederson made the Philadelphia Eagles a laughing stock Sunday Night.
I’ll say it again, what a shame.