Final NFL Week 17 Observations ... With Miami Dolphins Angles

The Miami Dolphins have as much right to complain after Week 17 as the New York Giants, even though they didn't go that route

So the big story around the NFL after Week 17 isn't even about the teams that ended up making the playoffs, but rather about the poor New York Giants, who saw their hopes vanish Sunday night.

The Giants are crying foul after the Philadelphia Eagles decided to give third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld a look in the fourth quarter of their game against Washington when they had the chance to pull off a fourth-quarter comeback victory, which would have put the Giants in the playoffs.

Giants head coach Joe Judge called Monday what the Eagles did disrespectful to the game and something he never would do.

Of course, it's easy for him to say that in the heat of the moment because it's his team that ended up paying the cost for what Eagles coach Doug Pederson decided to do.

And, make no mistake, based on what we saw from Sudfeld on Sunday night, the Eagles pretty much gave up for the sake of taking a look at him.

Oh, and they also ended up with the sixth overall pick instead of the ninth had they won the game — though it's hard to believe that difference is what would have prompted Pederson to go to Sudfeld instead of continuing to play (and evaluate) rookie Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa's former teammate at the University of Alabama.

Here's the problem with the Giants' complaint:

Well, first off, let's just start by saying that any team complaining about being "cheated" out of the playoffs is hard to take seriously after it finished the regular season with a 6-10 record.

But even putting that aside, the Giants have no case here because the Eagles broke no rules.

Simply put, every team has the right to do what it feels is best for them — regardless of consequences to others.

And, guess what, the Miami Dolphins were directly affected by a situation that was just as severe — if not more.

But there was no complaining from the Dolphins camp after the announcements that the Pittsburgh Steelers would face the Cleveland Browns without not only starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger but also Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey, NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate T.J. Watt and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Cameron Heyward.

Without those four guys, Pittsburgh came within a two-point conversion of sending its game at Cleveland to overtime, and we all know a Cleveland loss would have put the Dolphins into the playoffs.

And you don't think the Steelers would have beaten Cleveland with those four guys after they lost 24-22 without them?

Let's be honest, what Pittsburgh did was a lot more damaging to the Dolphins than what the Eagles did — subbing out their quarterback for the final quarter.

Oh, and the Dolphins with their 10-6 record would have a lot more room to complain than the Giants.

But, like the Eagles, the Steelers did what was best for them — and they had every right to do so.

In a perfect world, every team would go all out to win every game, but unless some new rules are implemented, situations like this will continue to surface.

And exactly what would anyone suggest? Force teams to play their starters the whole way? OK, then what would have prevented the Eagles from declaring a mysterious Hurts "injury" had sidelined him and they had choice but to turn to Sudfeld.

There really is no way to control situations like what happened Sunday and it should be pointed out that those scenarios don't happen very often.

And, besides, wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago that everybody was criticizing the Jets for beating the Rams and costing themselves a shot at drafting Trevor Lawrence? But now we're blasting the Eagles for doing what was best for them?

Yeah, no. Sorry, Giants.

Here's an idea: Maybe next year don't go 6-10 and put yourself in position to have to rely on another team to win.

On to other Week 17 thoughts:

-- Of course, the whole WFT-Eagles-Giants fiasco maybe wouldn't have been such a big deal had the Eagles game not been put on Sunday night. But as it turned out, this was a rare NFL season where there was not one game immune from having at least one team with nothing at stake, which created the potential for this scenario no matter what the schedule had been.

-- More painful for the Dolphins than the Steelers sitting out their starters against Cleveland will be having to watch not only Washington but also Chicago in the playoffs after they finished 7-9 and 8-8, respectively. The Bears had a chance to clinch a playoff berth with what would have been a statement win in Week 17 at home against Green Bay but instead got waxed. No problem because the Arizona Cardinals were losing against the Jared Goff-less Rams at the same time.

-- When handicapping the playoff races, be aware that NFC top seed Green Bay had by far the easiest schedule in the NFL with an opponent combined winning percentage of .428. Also should be noted that of all the playoff teams, Buffalo had the toughest schedule (.512).

-- That the Baltimore Ravens won at Cincinnati to clinch a playoff berth (and help eliminate the Dolphins) was no big surprise, but how they did it was some kind of impressive. That 404-yard rushing performance should worry the Tennessee Titans and every other team in the AFC. Even though they won two fewer games this year, they just might be better prepared to handle the playoffs than in 2019 when they were the top seeds.

RELATED: The Dolphins' Real Running Back Problem

-- Of course, it was painful for Dolphins fans to watch the Ravens and Colts both win Sunday, but even more painful was watching the contributions of rookie running backs J.K. Dobbins (160 yards) for the Ravens and Jonathan Taylor (253 yards) for the Colts. Those were two players who were selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft who the Dolphins ignored when they could have made major contributions to a team that came within one game of making the playoffs.

-- With the season over, a quick look back at my preseason predictions will show I hit on four of the eight division winners: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and New Orleans. I came close on Indianapolis, but whiffed on Philadelphia, Minnesota and Arizona. My Super Bowl pick of Pittsburgh over New Orleans remains intact, though at this point I'd be more inclined to go with Buffalo over New Orleans.