The Philadelphia Eagles went into Sunday’s Week 18 matchup with the Giants having an outside shot at the NFC East title. Basically, they needed a win and the Cowboys to lose or tie against the lowly Commanders.
For head coach Nick Sirianni, that was enough of an incentive to play the starters at Metlife Stadium, but it didn’t take long for that decision to turn costly.
In the first quarter, star receiver A.J. Brown went down clutching his knee after he fumbled at the tail end of a reception.
AJ Brown is down on the field pic.twitter.com/THpdXDSXQI
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 7, 2024
Brown left the game and went straight for the locker room.
And while Sunday’s game did have playoff implications for the Eagles, fans were understandably furious to see Sirianni take that risk on Metlife’s turf (which has led to some major injuries over the years). Having faith in the Commanders to pull an upset probably wasn’t worth losing Brown for extended time. Let’s hope the injury wasn’t as bad as it looked.
This was how Twitter reacted
That’s a pretty good argument for why you shouldn’t have starters in in an almost certainly meaningless game on the worst field in the NFL.
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) January 7, 2024
Disaster that everyone saw coming. I want Nick Sirianni and everyone involved in the starters playing fired tomorrow.
— justin (@justinontwt) January 7, 2024
I’m not sure how Nick Sirianni can watch that LaPorta injury earlier today and not immediately sit your key starters. You’ve already clinched and Dallas is a double digit favorite today, what are you really playing for?
— TCG🤌 (@thechartsguy) January 7, 2024
So happy they decided to play their starters today.
— Jack Fritz (@JackFritzWIP) January 7, 2024
Why would you play the starters on this field?
— Evan Thorpé (@EThorpe_) January 7, 2024
Why would you play the starters with nothing on the line in this stadium? You already choked away your playoff seeding you LOSERS
— AF (@ArkansasFred) January 7, 2024
And that right there is why no starters should be playing on this field.
Every other NFL team should refuse to play in @MetLifeStadium until they get rid of this turf.
It's ruining careers.
— The Birds Blitz (@TheBirdsBlitz) January 7, 2024
This is why you don’t play your starters unless you absolutely have to Week 18.
pic.twitter.com/mtN6ymmHC8— Michael Balko (@MichaelBalkoJr) January 7, 2024
We really just lost AJ for at least half of next year bc our HC decided to play the starters on the worst turf in the nfl in a game that really doesn’t matter
— Howie Roseman’s Burner (@HowieBurner) January 7, 2024
