Philadelphia Eagles: Week 18 is graciously meaningless

If you have a ticket to the Philadelphia Eagles‘ game in Week 18, you might not be particularly happy right now.

A few weeks ago, the game looked about as consequential as a regular season game could be. The Eagles were fighting for their lives for a spot in the playoffs and would need to give their most bitter of rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, the business in a win-and-get-it scenario. Assuming the top seed in the NFC was still in play – which it isn’t, by the way, but it was – the Cowboys might have actually given their full effort in the hopes of securing a Week 19 Bye heading into the postseason.

Instead, the Eagles and Cowboys effectively have their fates set and will likely roll with backups to remain as healthy as possible heading into the playoffs.

Again, if you paid big money for tickets to the game or received them for Christmas, I truly feel bad for you, especially since the game was moved from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night, but hey, with 14 players and counting currently in COVID protocol, a meaningless game sounds a whole lot better than an incredibly consequential one if you ask me.

The Philadelphia Eagles caught a deceptive break in Week 18.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been relatively unscathed by COVID so far this season.

Outside of having their game versus Washington moved back from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday night, the team has only placed about a dozen players in protocol over the first 17 weeks of the season, which is far fewer than teams like Washington, Seattle, and the New Orleans Saints have had to weather.

The key phrase in that sentence? The first 17 weeks, as on Monday, January 3rd – which is technically still Week 17 but don’t at me – the Eagles placed 12 of their 53 active roster players plus two more practice squaders into protocol, with their status for the season finale very much up in the air.

If the Eagles were thinking about playing their starters in Week 18, even just for a half, that idea effectively goes out the window, as nine of their 22 regular starters could be ineligible to play if they don’t clear protocol in time for the unusually scheduled game.

I mean, think about it; do you want to see Jalen Hurts or even Gardner Minshew taking snaps from *checks notes* Jack Anderson? Sua Otepa? Brett Toth? While I personally would like to see a game where Landon Dickerson delivers snaps at center – potentially from one Crimson tidesman to another, no less – that limited sample size would hardly justify putting the team’s first or even second-string quarterback in danger.

Do you know the name Reid Sinnett? Well, if you don’t, you might want to read up on him here, as he could be starting for the Eagles in Week 17.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s always better to have a playoff berth in the bag than on the line, especially when facing off against a division rival with serious Super Bowl aspirations. While it may not produce an all-time classic game for the Philadelphia Eagles, or even that much usable game film for the future, the only people who should be disappointed about how things shook out for the Birds are the fans who purchased face-value tickets and the sick players who can’t go. Fortunately, if you have a desire to watch what will effectively serve as a preseason game in January, I would imagine the secondary market will be loaded with affordable ticket options for the entire family.