The Philadelphia Eagles tanked in the fourth quarter on Sunday night when head coach Doug Pederson took out starting QB Jalen Hurts (who had two touchdowns in the game) and put in backup QB Nate Sudfeld (who hadn’t appeared in a game since 2018) in a three-point game.
The Eagles went on to lose the game, 20-14, and in doing so secured a better draft position.
They also angered members of the New York Giants, who couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The Giants needed Washington to lose to keep their season alive and Sudfeld’s appearance made that impossible.
After the game Pederson explained why he made the switch and stated that he was trying to win the game:
He elaborated further and it was immediately rebuked by @notthefakeSVP pic.twitter.com/pw0qZovRIH
— Austin (@rondarouseyszn) January 4, 2021
Scott Van Pelt was right – why would you take out Hurts, who had those two TDs, for a guy who had played in only three games in his four-year NFL career? That doesn’t seem like a move to try to win the game.
It will be interesting to see if this leads to a coaching change by the Eagles, who finished the season 4-11-1.