The Eagles Made The Right Decision Resting Their Starters

With the 2 seed on the line, the Eagles made a controversial decision to sit their starters. Turns out that because of the Bears' loss, a win would have given the Eagles the 2-seed. That result has Nick Sirianni under fire from fans and media who think the Eagles should have played for the 2 seed.

Before I explain why they are wrong, let's acknowledge their side of the argument. Because there are fair points on both sides. The 2 seed would have meant a more favorable matchup vs a Packers team limping into the playoffs. Instead, they get the 49ers. Still winnable. They are also arguably limping into the playoffs and have to travel across the country. But it is a tougher game on paper. It also would have guaranteed them at least 2 home games, as opposed to just 1.

I get the value in both of those advantages. The Eagles would probably have an easier road to the Super Bowl were they the 2-seed. But I think whether or not they won the 2 seed is a bit irrelevant in the larger argument. The decision was not about whether they could win the 2 seed. It was about what they valued more, rest, or the 2 seed. They decided they valued rest more. And the fact they got that rest, and enter the playoff healthier than any other team, is why it was the correct choice to sit their starters.

Let's discuss why rest is more important than the 2 seed. The issue for the Eagles this season has never been playing tough opponents or struggling on the road. They have beaten tough teams, and they have done so on the road. Just a week ago, they traveled up to Buffalo, shut down their prolific offense, and left with a win.

The issue has been their wildly underperforming offense. The reason it has been so poor is more complex, but it has two basic causes. Poor playcalling, and an O-Line that is a shell of itself.

No amount of rest or better seeding will suddenly fix the playcalling issue. That is something that, at this point, simply won't be fixed. Kevin Patullo does not have the juice to call plays, and Nick Sirianni lacks the answers to help him. But rest can absolutely help the O-Line issue.

It is very clear that Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson, and Jordan Mailata are not at 100%. Jurgens and Dickerson might not even be at 50%. It will shock no one if all of them get off-season surgery and we learn they all played through some grueling injury.

That is the Eagles' biggest core issue. A group that dominated games last season is kind of bad this year. Saquon Barkley averaged 3.8 yards before contact last year, and is at 2.5 this season. Barkley averaged 7.1 yards last season running behind Dickerson. But how often this year have we seen their LG open up massive holes for Barkley?There is even a stat floating around Twitter that says of the 42 Centers with at least 200 snaps, Jurgens is 42nd in blown block rate.

If the Eagles are going to win anything, those 3 need to be better. Would playing another game and winning the 2 seed make them better? No. But a week off could.

Don't take my word for it. Mailata literally told us he could use a week off when asked about this.

Does that mean they will come out and look better? No. They might just not have it this season. The Eagles played 21 games last season, and ran the ball 770 times. Dickerson and Jurgens both came into the season with bad injuries after playing through different bad injuries in the playoffs. They might need a whole off-season to recover. But extra rest will certainly do more to help this issue than being the 2 seed would have.

The Eagles now head into the playoffs the healthiest team still standing. But we saw in this game that injuries happen. Grant Calcaterra got hurt on a hip drop tackle. What if that was Dallas Goedert? Brett Toth left the game with a concussion. What if that was Jurgens or Dickerson?

This game showed us how important the health of the Eagles' starting CBs is. The backups handed the Commanders the game with Pass Interference calls. What if Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, or Adoree Jackson got hurt? Would you want to see Kelee Ringo out there in a playoff game? Keeping those 3 healthy is a must for the Eagles having any chance to win this season.

All of this is to say, the Eagles did the right thing. The result doesn't even matter. If you are arguing that because the Bears lost, the decision was bad, you are missing the point of the debate to begin with.

The debate was not, "Can the Eagles win the 2 seed?" The debate was always, what matters more, rest, or the 2 seed? The result of the game does not change the answer to that question. If you thought the 2 seed was more important, would you have changed your mind if the Eagles got lucky and won the 2 seed anyway? Probably not. You would have said they got lucky.

So why is the decision to value rest suddenly wrong because of the result? As I have said, winning the 2 seed would not change the Eagles' biggest obstacle to repeating. Because the biggest obstacle is not one of the other teams in the NFC. Nor is it having to play on the road. Their biggest obstacle is their complete inability to run the ball.

The only way to maybe fix that is with a fresh o-line. And the only way to get the O-Line fresh is by giving them a week off.

So yes, even though the result seems like a disaster, the Eagles made the right choice. People can kick their feet and shout all they want about how the Eagles wasted a chance to get the 2 seed. But the 2 seed is nowhere near as important as making sure the Eagles players are healthy and rested heading into the playoffs.

That is what sitting the starters already accomplished. Regardless of the result yesterday or next Sunday, resting everyone was the obviously right decision.