The 2020-21 NFL regular season ended on a highly controversial note in Philadelphia Sunday night.
With the NFC East at stake for either the New York Giants or Washington Football Team, Eagles coach Doug Pederson pulled quarterback Jalen Hurts from the game with his team trailing 17-14 in the fourth quarter. Hurts wasn’t having his best game, completing only 7-of-20 passes for 72 yards and an interception. But he also scored Philadelphia’s two touchdowns, each of them on six-yard runs.
In a three-point game with plenty of time to tie the score or win the game, Pederson’s decision to bench Hurts was inexplicable. To everyone watching, it appeared that the Eagles preferred to lose, finish with a 4-11-1 record, and get the No. 6 selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. Philadelphia’s 20-14 loss resulted in Washington winning the NFC East and cost the Giants a division title and playoff berth.
Echoing the disbelief raging on social media, Sunday Night Football broadcasters Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were critical of putting Sudfeld in the game.
Cris Collinsworth's "Al, I couldn't have done it" comments on the Eagles' move to pull Jalen Hurts for Nate Sudfeld. pic.twitter.com/2vm2cPDpSV
— The Comeback NFL (@TheComebackNFL) January 4, 2021
And that was only the beginning of the pile-on directed at Pederson and the Eagles afterward. ESPN’s Chris Mortenson acknowledged the flood of messages and comments he received questioning the competitive integrity of the outcome.
This is the most negative barrage of comments I have received about a game’s lack of integrity and that’s not even counting Giants-related bias.
Consensus from those in NFL and who have been associated with it: Disgrace.
That’s not the fault of the Washington Football Team.— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 4, 2021
Rich Eisen referenced another recent gaffe committed during the presidential election in Philadelphia:
The #Eagles announce Doug Pederson postgame press conference will happen in front of Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) January 4, 2021
On NBC Sports Philadelphia’s postgame show, former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner said “I have never been more ashamed to be associated with the Philadelphia Eagles than I am tonight.”
As could be expected, the Monday morning sports talk shows were ready to pounce on the Eagles for tanking the game, rather than genuinely trying to win.
On NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, Kyle Brandt said Philadelphia was clearly trying to lose the game by playing Sudfeld, who had taken two snaps in the past three seasons.
The morning sports shows were ready to rip the Eagles for playing Nate Sudfeld in the 4th quarter and losing to Washington ?
Kyle Brandt on GOOD MORNING FOOTBALL: pic.twitter.com/1M1vHiBWjl
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 4, 2021
Ryan Clark didn’t hold back on ESPN’s Get Up, saying “this was the most disgraceful” decision amid a season full of questionable developments as the NFL insisted on playing during a pandemic:
Ryan Clark: Of all the bad decisions during this pandemic NFL season, "this was the most disgraceful": pic.twitter.com/3jAk0eLroT
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 4, 2021
Dan Orlovsky said this was the first blatant example of tanking that he’d seen on the field, rather than something discussed in a front office or among media and fans:
Dan Orlovsky said he saw tanking for the first time: pic.twitter.com/42gbn1Adbr
— Ian Casselberry (@iancass) January 4, 2021
On FS1’s First Things First, Nick Wright said Pederson played “a clearly inferior quarterback” yet if the Giants want to complain, they should’ve finished better than 6-10 for the season:
"Doug Pederson owes the Giants nothing."
— @getnickwright reacts to Eagles benching Jalen Hurts for Nate Sudfeld in the 4th quarter vs. Washington pic.twitter.com/kBnChQUefg
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) January 4, 2021
Pederson provided plenty of outrage material for analysts and pundits, allowing the morning shows to start off with blazing commentary. For at least an hour, it overshadowed everything else going on in the NFL, including the playoff field and NFL Draft order for for non-playoff teams being established.
Oh, and wasn’t the big news for the Monday following the NFL regular season expected to be which coaches were fired? Not at first. But that will come, with the Jacksonville Jaguars dismissing Doug Marrone and the New York Jets ditching Adam Gase.
