Giants-Eagles Rivalry Gets Another Log Added to the Flames
Herman Edwards, DeSean Jackson, and now Nate Sudfeld?
The Giants are no strangers to seeing their season end at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles.
But Philadelphia's 20-14 loss to the Washington Football Team on Sunday night strayed away from all the competitive clichés that have tortured Giants fans in the past. Instead, they manifested in an entirely new type of anguish that doesn't come along in other NFL rivalries and is somewhat nuanced by professional sports standards.
There was no humiliating lopsided domination, no catastrophic late-game collapse, no devastating injury, or unfavorable all-time record implications.
Instead, a single decision by Eagles head coach Doug Pederson ended the Giants' season remotely--fitting for a year plagued by the limitations of a pandemic.
Pederson's decision to bench rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts in favor of 27-year-old backup Nate Sudfeld has taken on a life of its own since it was made. Everyone from fans, players, media, and even a handful of Pederson apologists have chimed in on the value of the decision and the motives behind it.
Whatever the true intentions were—whether Pederson was wholesomely trying to give his long-time backup some playing time in a meaningless game as he claimed, or whether he was actively trying to "tank" the game for better draft positioning as some have assumed—the decision effectively ended the Giants' playoff hopes.
Yes, there were games earlier in the season that the Giants could have won to avoid this scenario. And yes, there were even missed opportunities by the Eagles to take the lead earlier in the game when Hurts was on the field.
Regardless, with 12 minutes left in the regular season and the Eagles trailing just 17-14, the Giants' division title aspirations were alive and somewhat well considering Washington's second-half struggles on offense.
Then Sudfeld walked onto the field, and the Giants' path to the playoffs slowly evaporated into nothingness.
Sudfeld's first two series ended in a mind-boggling interception and a fumbled snap, wasting Hurts' earlier efforts. It also wasted a slew of fourth-quarter miscues by the Washington offense, of which Hurts might have been better suited to take advantage.
The Eagles, for all of their ineptitude in 2020, had a chance to end the season with their rookie quarterback leading a game-winning effort against a divisional opponent in primetime.
Yet, Pederson sacrificed the possibility of that noble ending, removing his promising young starter from the fourth quarter of a three-point game to ensure his backup did not end the season without taking any snaps.
That was the price necessary to deliver the one infinitesimally possible Eagles loss that proved to be more devastating to the Giants than to the Eagles themselves--and it's a price Pederson was willing to pay and defend.
To put into context just how surreal this moment was, take a look at the buildup to this moment.
While it may have been for selfish reasons, Giants fans and players — current and former — put together a five-hour "love fest" for their hated rival and their promising rookie quarterback over social media.
According to NBC Sports sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya, Giants veteran defensive back Logan Ryan even went out of his way to watch the game with his family in southern New Jersey to root for the Eagles.
This is the same Eagles team that mounted a devastating 11-point comeback in the final minutes of a primetime game against the Ryan and the Giants back in Week 7.
This is the same Eagles team that, in a primetime game, mounted a devastating 14-point comeback to temporarily put the now-retired quarterback Eli Manning under .500 for his career in regular-season games last year season in a 34-17 loss in his penultimate NFL game.
This is the rivalry that yielded both Miracles at the Meadowlands, a defeat in Tom Coughlin's final game as Giants head coach, Victor Cruz's career-altering torn patellar tendon injury, and eight straight losses in the series until the Giants finally snapped that dominance in the second meeting with the Eagles this season.
Yet, the Giants fans were able to put all the beef aside for a single night to unite behind Hurts and the Eagles in hopes of fulfilling their lingering playoff thirst.
And how was their diplomacy rewarded?
Giants fans, who had temporarily embraced Hurts as their season savior for the night, watched him get pulled from what could have been his signature NFL moment, his spotlight taken from him as Sudfeld was put on the field as a sacrificial lamb for the Giants' demise.
While there is no legitimate proof or reason to think that Pederson was intentionally trying to spite the Giants with his decision, Giants players and fans won't have any sympathy toward Pederson (if he returns next year) or the Eagles, as another log has been placed on an already intensively hot and historic rivalry.
