Tank Culture in Football

Do I think there's tanking in football? Sometimes. But the ire that is stemming towards the Philadelphia Eagles is very obvious for anyone following the disastrous final game of the season. Tight game between them and the Washington Football Team. Then comes the decision to not tie the game on a field goal. Pretty common for Doug Pederson this year. But the changing from quarterback Jalen Hurts to Nate Sudfeld is what is driving many up a wall.

Washington won, securing the NFC East and being the last team to get into the playoffs. It eliminated the New York Giants from contention, but what I'll say is this. It isn't so much the Giants being eliminated that bothers people. Most will not disagree, including former players, that they could have more than six wins. It's how they were eliminated that's the issue. You play with pride. Players want to show they are still worth something to their team or to another team if they express interest in them. People are bringing up a press conference bite of Eagles center Jason Kelce valuing winning over tanking. That will not age well.

I see people bring up playoff bound teams resting players. That's a huge apples and oranges situation. Why risk injury with your starters before heading into the postseason? The look on Hurts' face when he got benched says it all. He was the reason the game was close with his two rushing touchdowns. He didn't look good from a passing perspective, but there is uptick to him compared to Sudfeld. I don't know how Pederson can keep a straight face and say that he was coaching to win. That is flat out chickenshit. Even beyond current and former Giant players, you got angry fans. Angry analysts. Former Eagle players feeling embarrassed. Some are questioning the inactives thing because you can get in trouble for that, but I don't think that's a huge factor.

What this will go into is the culture of the Eagles. This brings a bad message to kids and a bad message to high school football programs all over the country. It's the kind of bad moments that brings toxicity to a locker room. The ones defending Pederson's decisions don't seem to grasp the blatant tanking. Other teams played with pride like Detroit and Houston. If it was a blow out, I would understand. Philadelphia played a big game defensively to give Jim Schwartz a proper curtain call.

Philadelphia gets the sixth overall pick of this year's draft. It does make a difference where you are early. However, whoever they get is going to face a lot of unwarranted hype and potential scrutiny if he messes up or doesn't live up to the pick. Sudfeld I can see being a scapegoat. Unfortunate that Pederson will more than likely keep his job. Shame on owner Jeffrey Lurie and anyone involved in that organization. A shame also that the NFL will probably not investigate this. No excuses should be made at all.