The Philadelphia Eagles opted out of a chance to win the NFC's second seed on Sunday, playing backups in what was an extremely winnable game. This meant starting second-string quarterback Tanner McKee, who hasn't had an issue stepping up in the past. Unfortunately, he didn't get the job done this weekend, as the Eagles lost to the Washington Commanders 24-17, and McKee looked consistently overmatched.
McKee's overall numbers aren't awful, with the quarterback going 21-of-40 for 241 passing yards and one touchdown and one interception. However, what these numbers don't tell is how inaccurate McKee was when the game was on the line, and it doesn't help that the interception was in scoring range and took points off the board for Philadelphia.
If McKee was hoping to leave the Eagles for a potential starting opportunity elsewhere this season, his latest outing may have hurt those chances.
Tanner McKee Likely Stuck as Eagles' QB2 After Week 18
Week 18 will not only quiet any future calls for the quarterback to start. Had he balled out, perhaps there would've been a chance for the Eagles to trade him for a draft pick in the offseason. But after he looked average at best against the Commanders, any potential suitors' interest likely took a major dip, if not disappeared entirely.
It is important to note that DeVonta Smith was the team's leading receiver despite being pulled the moment he surpassed 1,000 yards on the season. This left McKee with Jahan Dotson, Darius Cooper, and Kylen Granson as his most targeted pass catchers. While this doesn't set up an easy path for the quarterback, the Washington defense isn't great and has struggled to stop even the league's weakest offensive attacks.
There's no chance that the Eagles are going to take the starting QB job from Jalen Hurts and give it to McKee. And with the odds of the ex-Stanford signal-caller being traded lower than ever, all signs point to McKee returning to Philly as the QB2 for the final year of his rookie contract.
For the Eagles, fans can only hope that head coach Nick Sirianni's decision and McKee's failures don't come back to haunt them. Holding the third seed presents a far more challenging path to repeating as Super Bowl Champions. In the meantime, McKee will have a lot of time to reflect on where he went wrong and what he can do to become a starting QB one day.
And, who knows? Maybe winning a second Super Bowl ring, even as a backup, will be enough to draw up interest in his services this offseason.