The Philadelphia Eagles were the subject of tremendous backlash on Sunday night, with the New York Giants and their fans especially upset.
With the NFC East title hanging in the balance, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson inexplicably pulled starting quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second half of a tight game. Nate Sudfeld took over under center, and Philly promptly limped to the finish line while the Washington Football Team captured the division title.
The shady personnel moves resonated with the Giants, who earlier in the day beat the Dallas Cowboys to have a chance at the playoffs. New York would have won the division had the Eagles defeated Washington, but the G-Men could only watch as their playoff hopes slipped away.
Numerous Giants players vented their frustrations on Twitter. But cornerback Logan Ryan had a different approach, saying it was out of the team's control in part because the Giants did not play consistent enough throughout the season:
“Wish I could give you the explosive stuff you wanted,” Ryan told Peter King of NBC Sports. “There will be a lot of opinions about whether they were trying to win. You want to play the game to win, but I don’t play for the Eagles, I don’t coach for the Eagles. It’s their team. Winning six games doesn’t give us much right to get pissed off about this. We didn’t play consistent enough all year to earn it.”
Ryan added Washington's players and coaching staff deserved more credit, specifically singling out quarterback Alex Smith and head coach Ron Rivera.
The veteran corner has a point. New York started the season 1-7, but ripped off four straight wins to take the lead in the NFC East. However, the Giants were dominated in each of their next three games, needing a win and some luck in Week 17.
Perhaps the Giants were a bit unfortunate Sunday, but Ryan suggests the team should not have even been in that position anyway.
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