The Eagles Good Health Isn’t Just Luck, It’s Strategy
Back in 2022, the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl with all 22 starters ready to play. There were some bumps and bruises along the way. Guys like Lane Johnson were playing through injuries that would keep them out in regular season games, but all 22 starters were on the field. Fast forward 2 years later, and they once again have all of their starters heading into the playoffs.
Are guys fighting through stuff? Of course. It is Football, most guys are beat up by this point. AJ Brown is fighting a knee issue, but they expect him to play through it. Barring any change between now and Sunday, all 22 starters will take the field against the Packers.
Some of that is luck. You can’t gameplan catastrophic injuries out of the game. Sometimes you plant your leg, it gives out, and the next thing you know you are out for the season with a torn ACL. That they avoided injuries like that all season, except for Brandon Graham, is a little lucky. But going into the playoffs this healthy also is a credit to their strategy.
Many people moaned about how they once again avoided playing their starters in the postseason. The defensive starters played a bit more under Vic Fangio, but still not that much. The offensive starters mostly never saw the field. People also complained about sitting the starters in week 18, especially since it cost Saquon Barkley a chance at the record.
But now we are seeing the benefit of that. While other teams around the NFL go into the playoffs missing key players, the Eagles head into it both healthy and rested.
‘The Best Show Ever’ Praises Sirianni For Keeping Guys Healthy
Tyrone Johnson talked about this exact thing on Thursday, and he had some lofty praise for the Eagles and explained why it is more than just luck.
“When it comes to our Eagles, we probably have not talked enough about how good of an organization they are, how well-oiled they are, and how good a job Nick Sirianni has now done two out of three years to have a healthy crew going into the postseason.
Obviously, when it comes to any kind of injury, there’s luck involved. But the Eagles have a strategy and many fans complained about it early in the season or they complain about it in the preseason because they don’t get to see a lot of the starters. They have a strategy and their strategy seems pretty simple. The more guys we get to the starting line increases the odds of us getting a lot of guys to the finish line.
Now that Jalen Hurts has returned to practice, look at the Eagles going into the postseason with all 22 starters ready. Also, look at the Detroit Lions who are on the bye this week and how many guys they lost.
Think about the fourth quarters of games. Think about that Giants game. Think about that Bengals game. Think about that first Cowboys game. Think about last week. Times when you could have played guys, but instead you say every snap, every mile, every step counts. And they have a strategy to try to keep to keep guys healthy.“
Other Teams Not As Healthy As The Eagles
Just look across the field on Sunday. The Packers played their starters in week 18. They still had a chance to improve their seeding, so they had good reason to play, but doing so cost them. Their big play WR Christian Watson tore his ACL, and will now miss the playoffs. Jordan Love also had an injury scare, but he seems to have avoided anything serious and will play on Sunday.
Elsewhere the Ravens played their starters, again they needed to do so to clinch the NFC North, but it also cost them greatly. Zay Flowers didn’t tear his ACL like Watson did, but he did injure his knee, and it will keep him out for at least this week.
The Lions of course are all kinds of beat-up. They have suffered a ton of bad luck. But they have also on multiple occasions kept playing, and kept going pedal to the metal when they did not need to. They played week 17 when they knew either way they would need to beat the Vikings the following week. It has taken its toll.
But meanwhile, the Eagles are in great shape. Is that all because they sat their starters whenever they could? No. But the less you play, the less chance for injury there is, and the less wear and tear you will have on your body.
This is something the Eagles do intentionally. They make it a point to have an easier camp, not play their starters in pre-season, and once a game is out of hand, they pull their starters. They did it in 2022 and it got them to the playoffs healthy, and they have done it this year. As of now, they are healthier than any other team left standing.
That is praiseworthy, and a lot of that praise should go to Nick Sirianni. Maybe people will remember that when they complain about how he doesn’t play the starters in pre-season next year.
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