NFL Week 18: Should the Eagles rest starters against the New York Giants?

I’m not really a Philly Sports Talk Radio “Poll Guy” but the one posted by the 94.1 WIP Morning Show was actually pretty solid. This morning, they asked what the Philadelphia Eagles should do in terms of resting or starting players against the New York Giants on Sunday.

What should the Eagles game plan be against the New York Giants?

There’s really not that much at stake for the Eagles in terms of the NFC Playoffs heading into Week 18.

There’s a small chance that they can win the NFC East but that would mean they’d have to beat the Giants on Sunday AND the Dallas Cowboys would need to lose to the Washington Commanders.

Of course, there’s also other factors that come into play when figuring out what to do against the Giants.

• Eagles starters look gassed (defense) – would benefit from rest
• Keep everyone healthy heading into playoffs
• MetLife Stadium turf is an injury waiting to happen
• Cowboys suck on the road – could lay an egg against Commanders
• Eagles need “style points” and a “good game” to end the season

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Yeah here’s the thing. If I was Nick Sirianni, I would play the starters the entire game regardless of the outcome in the Dallas Cowboys game against the Washington Commanders. 

Sorry fellas, if you want a week off heading into the playoffs then you actually have to play good football. All season long, we have heard the same slop on the podium about how this team is still “figuring it out” and that they are “close to putting it all together” as the entire team crashed and burned over the last five weeks. 

This Eagles team lost four out of their last five games and now we want to give them a week off against the New York Giants? Don’t think so. Figure it out in Week 18 like you told this fanbase you would do the previous 17 weeks of the regular season. 

This team has zero momentum. I don’t care if everyone is “tired” or “could use the rest” or if “this game doesn’t mean anything”.

Getting extra rest is a reward and this team doesn’t deserve it. It’s really that simple. 

If anything, the only viable option above would to be to “play them and see” but not for the reason you’re thinking.

Option 1: Play the starters and keep a watchful eye on the Cowboys-Commanders score to see if it’s worth going for a win at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. If not, you can choose to rest them when the game is officially ruled meaningless. 

Option 2: “Play them and see” actually means we’ll witness if the Philadelphia Eagles are still complete ass like they have been for the past month and if that’s the case, let them crash and burn against the New York Giants because this team won’t do shit in the playoffs anyways.