Nate Sudfeld at Center of Sunday Night Football Controversy
Former Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld was inserted into the Sunday Night Football game against the Washington Football Team, and the decision to put in Sudfeld became a huge controversy.
Sudfeld replaced Jalen Hurts in a single score game, and even though the Philadelphia Eagles had no shot of making the playoffs, the New York Giants were awaiting the result of that game to find out if they were going to get in.
Sudfeld couldn't get the Eagles in the end zone, throwing 5-for-12 with 31 yards and one interception, so Washington clinched the NFC East division and a playoff berth with its 20-14 victory.
The former Hoosier quarterback was thrown into a weird situation, and after seeing no playing time all season, he suddenly became the center of Philly's QB controversy.
Sports Illustrated's Dan Gartland has the story on how it all went down, including head coach Doug Pederson's explanation.
The 256th game of the NFL season, played in primetime on NBC, is usually a great appetizer for the playoffs. Last year, the 49ers beat the Seahawks in the Sunday Night Football showcase to win the NFC West and clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs. This year, it left everyone watching with a sour taste in their mouths.
The Giants, having beaten the Cowboys earlier in the day, just needed the Eagles to beat Washington in order to be crowned NFC East champions. Washington played like a team that knew it was on the brink of the postseason. The Eagles players played hard, too, but their coach didn’t.
Early in the fourth quarter, Doug Pederson gave Jalen Hurts the hook and put career third-stringer Nate Sudfeld in the game at quarterback. Sudfeld was terrible and the Eagles lost without putting up a fight.
After the game, Pederson explained his decision.
“Yes, I was coaching to win,” Pederson said. “Yes, that was my decision solely. Nate has obviously been here for four years and I felt that he deserved an opportunity to get some snaps.
“Listen, if there’s anything out there that thinks that I was not trying to win the game, [Zach] Ertz is out there, Brandon Graham is out there, Darius Slay is out there. All our top guys are still on the field at the end. We were going to win the game.”
The charitable interpretation of that quote is that Pederson thought he could give Sudfeld a chance to play while also trying to win the game. Everything the national TV audience saw from Sudfeld should make it clear that there was no way that could be true. The game was over the moment Sudfeld stepped on the field. Pederson is right: the couple of star players who weren’t inactive did stay in the game but at the most important position on the field, the Eagles were playing a guy who looked as ineffective and outmatched as Cowboys QB Ben DiNucci was against Philadelphia earlier this season.
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