Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni shed some light on his decision to rest his team’s starters against the Washington Commanders in Week 18 with the No. 2 seed in the NFC still up for grabs.
In order to secure the second seed, the Eagles would need to beat the Commanders and they’d need the Detroit Lions to beat the Chicago Bears. Those two games take place at the same time, so Sirianni isn’t able to make a decision based on Chicago’s outcome. So ultimately, he prioritized rest.
“At the end of the day, it’s not a guarantee that we can get the No. 2 seed, but I can guarantee that I can rest the starters,” Sirianni said. “[I] just thought that was the best thing for our football team right there.”
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Plus, Sirianni doesn’t view resting many of the starters as waiving the white flag. He’s confident that the players who will be out on the field can deliver a win and still give the team a shot at securing the No. 2 seed.
[I] feel really good about the guys that are going to go in there and play,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, you can’t rest everybody. We’ve had a good week of practice. We’re going in there to try to win the game with some guys that haven’t played a ton of snaps on offense and defense but obviously have contributed. But just felt like that was the best thing for the football team for this week, moving forward.”
Not everyone will agree with Sirianni here, but after leading the Eagles to five consecutive playoff appearances during his first five seasons with the team, he deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to decision-making.
If nothing else, the game will serve as some solid experience for some of the lesser-used players on the roster.
Meanwhile, in addition to watching their own team on Sunday afternoon, Eagles fans will also want to keep an eye on that Bears/Lions game, as the outcome of that one could have a major impact on Philly’s playoff path.
