Both the Eagles and Washington Commanders have faint hopes to play for something this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field in the NFL regular season finale for both teams. The Eagles are playing for the faint hope of getting the No. 2 seed in the NFC postseason, with the faint hope that the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, while a Washington loss could hopefully give the Commanders the No. 2 overall pick in the April NFL Draft.
When asked this week about resting starters, Commanders’ head coach Dan Quinn said, “It’s just not part of our philosophy. Not something we’re considering. Health definitely factors in with all the guys. But if the guys are healthy and they can play and do the things they need to, then that would be one. But it definitely factors in, but not on the healthy player.
“Obviously, this game doesn’t have the magnitude that we hoped it would have when the schedule came out. But at the same time, we also recognize it’s a really important opportunity for a lot on our roster. And so, we don’t take that lightly.”
There may be some rumblings that Quinn’s job is at stake, but the Commanders have been ravaged by injuries to an aged team, down to their third-string quarterback, Josh Johnson, though he may still have Terry McLaurin to throw to.
Other than that, the Commanders have very little. They are the unproud owners of an eight-game losing streak this season, the third-longest this season behind the Las Vegas Raiders’ current 10-game losing streak, and New York Giants’ nine-game drought, and were eliminated from the playoffs in early December. The Commanders entered the season as one of the older teams in the league, with what was believed to be a young, vibrant heartbeat in quarterback Jayden Daniels, but that did not last very long. Pieces began falling off the first month of the season and by Nov. 2, Washington’s season was torched, sitting at 3-6 after being bulldozed by Seattle, 38-14.
McLaurin’s streak of five-straight, 1,000-yard receiving seasons will be snapped this year, entering the game with a career-low 525 yards over a career-low nine games played, cut short by injuries. He has not caught a touchdown in his previous two games, though he may get an ample opportunity to score against the Eagles, who are starting Tanner McKee at quarterback and resting most of their starters.
The only drama in this game is how Quinn and Washington will react after Eagles’ coach Nick Sirianni opted to go for a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter of their 29-18 on Dec. 20, which stirred a fight and Quinn to remark, “We will see those guys again soon.”
Was Sirianni concerned with retaliation?
“No, again, like we talked about– and no, I respect this team,” he said. “I respect the game of football. I respect Coach Quinn and all his players there way too much to ever do anything where we thought we were doing anything wrong in that situation. I have the utmost respect for this football team that we’re about to play. We’ll do what’s best for our football team in every aspect.”
That’s resting the starters.
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