Much of the sports-watching world is accusing the Philadelphia Eagles of tanking after Eagles coach Doug Pederson pulled starting quarterback Jalen Hurts in a pivotal game against Washington.
And, as it turns out, NBC Sunday Night Football hosts Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels appear to be among them.
Soon after Pederson pulled Hurts in the second half of a 17-14 game, Collinsworth criticized Pederson for the QB change, saying, “I couldn’t have done it.”
“Al, I couldn’t have done it. I couldn’t have done what Philadelphia did,” Collinsworth said from the NBC booth. “I simply just could not have done it. You’ve got men out there that are fighting their guts out trying to win the game. And I’m not saying, I’m not blaming anybody, I, personally, could not have done what they did.”
In fairness, Hurts had only completed 7 of 20 passes for 72 yards and a pick before being pulled from the game. So, one could also easily make the argument that Pederson was trying to win the game when he made the switch. However, that explanation didn’t seem to fly with Collinsworth’s co-host Al Michaels either.
“[If] they’re getting blown out, yeah. And we mentioned yesterday, Doug said he wanted to get Sudfeld into the game. But in this circumstance? Come on,” Michaels said.
Michaels added, “[Hurts’] numbers weren’t that great, but a couple of rushing touchdowns, and clearly a guy who is a big part of the conversation for the future. And the Giants have to be beside themselves, and who can blame them?”
The moaning and wailing of Michaels and Collinsworth over the woes of the Giants were a constant and agonizing theme throughout the course of the evening. The Giants would have clinched a playoff berth with a Philadelphia victory and clearly, the TV networks would rather have the Giants than the Washington Football Team. However, announcers rarely let their preferences be known as loudly and proudly as Collinsworth and Michaels did last night.
Also, who really cares about the Giants’ feelings?
The New York Giants were a six-win football team that scored 49 points in their final four games. In any normal year, their season would have ended four weeks ago.
After the game, Eagles coach Doug Pederson defended his decision to pull Hurts by saying he was “coaching to win.”
Regardless of the motive behind the decision, none of the three teams involved actually deserve to be in the playoffs and this writer says that as a lifelong fan of one of them.
NFL teams care about their own self-interest. The Giants needed Philly to win to get into the playoffs. Philly – allegedly – decided they needed the sixth overall pick more than the ninth. In the end, the Eagles chose their own self-interest.
In other words, Philadelphia (allegedly) did the same thing the Giants would have done had they been in their position.
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