Nick Sirianni still undecided about playing starters in Week 18

[time2rock]

Nick Sirianni still undecided about playing starters in Week 18

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said he was still undecided about playing his starters in a Week 18 game without seeding at stake.

By Dave Zangaro • Published December 30, 2024

 

The Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC entering their Week 18 regular season finale against the Giants, which means it’s decision time for Nick Sirianni.

Is he going to rest his starters?

"Still not there,” the head coach said on Monday afternoon. "And then, I gave the players off today. They’ll be back in, in a couple days. By the next time I talk to you (reporters), they’ll be back in. I’ll always inform them before I inform anybody else. 

"I know you guys are going to want that answer as soon as you guys can get it. I’ll try to help you guys do your job as much as I possibly can but I’ll always inform our players of things first. Still sorting through things right now at this particular moment.”

The Eagles have now played a game in 12 straight weeks since an early Week 5 bye week and will be hosing either the Packers or Commanders in the first round of the playoffs in a couple weeks. So this is the only possible chance for some rest before the Eagles go on what they hope will be a long playoff run.

Of course, there has to be at least some temptation to play the starters on offense and give Saquon Barkley a shot at breaking Eric Dickerson’s all-time single-season rushing record. Barkley surpassed the 2,000-yard mark on Sunday and is 101 yards away from breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105 rushing yards back in 1984.

Several Eagles offensive starters on Sunday evening said they want to play in Week 18 to go for the record. But this team also has bigger goals than an individual record in the regular season. They want to win a Super Bowl.

Another wrinkle in this discussion is the status of starting QB Jalen Hurts, who missed the division-clinching win over the Cowboys with a concussion. If Hurts is able to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol this week, would there be value in seeing him in Week 18?

"You take everything into account,” Sirianni said. "Try to do the best thing for the team and try to do the best thing for each individual player as well. That’s where we’ll be. No decisions yet on anything.”

Based on the way the Eagles typically handle these situations, it seems likely the Eagles rest their starters or at least get them out of Sunday’s game against the Giants early.

If that happens, it means valuable reps for their backups. Those snaps help the individual players but they also help the team from an evaluation standpoint.

"Anytime anybody is able to play game reps and meaningful snaps in the NFL, that’s huge,” Sirianni said. "It gives you an evaluation process, it gives those guys an opportunity who haven’t gotten an opportunity to play, an opportunity to play in meaningful reps. That’s always huge when you can do that. Like I said, we’ll see where we are with that. But a good opportunity if that is the way we go.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/nick-sirianni-still-undecided-about-playing-starters-in-week-18/639333/

[hoosierdaddy]

Rest the starters. Barkley breaking Dickerson's record would be diluted any way because he has an extra game.

[Perforator]

Play the starters. Barkley breaking Dickerson's record would be huge and an opportunity missed.

[time2rock]

Not sure why people think the record wouldn't be that big of an accomplishment.  Only 6 other players have topped 2000 yards rushing in the past 40 years since Dickerson broke OJ's record.  And most everyone acknowledges that record as an all time great feat yet it took 2 extra games for him to break the previous record held by OJ.  Saquon is 'this close' with 1 more game to play and 'only' 101 yards to get there (he topped 101 in 11 of 17 games this season).  I get the "bigger goals" but damn man, a 40 year record.  Super tough call.  

[PoconoDon]

1 hour ago, hoosierdaddy said:

Rest the starters. Barkley breaking Dickerson's record would be diluted any way because he has an extra game.

I disagree. The number of games isn't the right number to use in determining if the record would be robust or diluted. The correct one is the number of carries. A RB could get 10 carries a game or 40 carries a game, so number of games doesn't reflect the number of chances given to gain yards.

Right now Saquon has 34 less carries than Dickerson had in 16 games. Can Saquon get 101 yards in 33 or less carries this week? If so, then he is greater than Dickerson across the board. The stats are: Dickerson got 2105 on 379 carries back in 1984. Barkley has 2005 in ONLY 345 carries as of today.

This opportunity probably won't ever come around again so, if Saquon is healthy and ready to go this week, I say let him go get that record. If he's more banged up than we know and needs the week of rest, then to me, that's his call and I'd respect whatever he chooses without judgment. I just don't think anyone is facing a choice between the record and a SB win. I also don't worry about injuries because they can happen at any time and in any way whether the player is on or off the field. 

One way or another I guess we'll find out soon enough.