PHILADELPHIA — The ideal scenario for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday would have been for backup quarterback Tanner McKee to excel against the Washington Commanders, leading the reserves to a victory while the Detroit Lions upset the Chicago Bears. Then, the Eagles would have secured the No. 2 seed, benefited from resting key starters and also added to the intrigue about their No. 2 quarterback ahead of an offseason when there could be musical chairs among quarterbacks.
The Lions’ part of that scenario materialized. Most of the Eagles starters received their rest. The problem was the remainder of the plan. The 24-17 loss to Washington included an uneven performance from McKee and left the Eagles realizing their missed opportunity.
“You go through your process, you make what you think is the best decision for the football team, and that’s what we did,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I knew this was an outcome, that these things could happen. … One thing I could guarantee was giving them rest. I couldn’t guarantee anything else. Us being healthy and going into the playoffs healthy is a big deal for us and that’s served us well in the past. Again, I know there’ll be debate on that, but I have to do what I think’s best for the football team moving forward, and that’s what I did.”
Sirianni was consistent throughout the week, and there was also an internal belief that the Eagles were not punting the game. They hoped they could beat the Commanders with McKee and company, just as they beat the New York Giants with McKee in Week 18 last season. Perhaps the Eagles’ reserves are not as good as they were last season. Perhaps the Commanders are superior to that Giants team. But the Eagles also did not get the same level of performance from McKee, who finished 21 of 40 for 241 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
This seemed like a potential audition for McKee to show the rest of the NFL the latest model in Howie Roseman’s quarterback factory, but the luster was likely not enough for the Eagles to fetch a valuable draft pick on this game alone.
“We have a lot of things to learn, obviously,” said McKee, a promising third-year quarterback. “But just feel like I’m learning and growing as a player. Sometimes it’s growing pains, not necessarily just results. So definitely a lot of things to learn from. Obviously hate losing but just move on and take those lessons for the rest of my career, to the next game, to the next opportunity.”
The caveat that must be considered is the lineup McKee played with and the lineup he played against. DeVonta Smith started and played the first quarter — he was targeted on McKee’s first four passes — in a quest to reach 1,000 receiving yards. Once he hit the benchmark, he exited the game.
Right guard Tyler Steen also started, was relieved, and later returned only in an emergency situation. Otherwise, the only starters were No. 3 wide receiver Jahan Dotson and fill-in tackle Fred Johnson.
McKee played a defense with nine of the same starters Washington fielded two weeks ago against the Eagles’ top offense and two additional starters who would be considered upgrades over players in the lineup in the first meeting. McKee still needed to know where top linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu were at all times. This wasn’t the 1985 Bears defense on the other side, but it wasn’t the 2001 Rams offense on his side. Any consideration of McKee’s readiness for a bigger role would need to take into account that the Eagles didn’t play their starters.
The Eagles didn’t do enough on Sunday to claim the NFC’s No. 2 seed in the playoffs. (Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)
“I mean, those guys battled, especially those big guys up front,” McKee said. “Thought they did a great job just running the ball, protection, everything. It’s not easy. (Washington) had a good package. Bobby and Frankie are great blitzers with disguising different things and they had good guys up front that were good players. So, I thought the guys did a good job stepping up, especially those guys that don’t get a ton of reps throughout the season.”
The major blemish on McKee’s performance was an interception at the 20-yard line when the Eagles were in scoring range, along with an empty visit inside the Commanders’ 10-yard line. For an offense that is the best in the NFL in the red zone, failing to score points on those two first-half drives haunted the Eagles in a close game.
(McKee said the interception was “just me trying to force it” and he “felt like I tried to get too much back in one play” after a costly taunting penalty pushed the Eagles back from a pass that reached the 5-yard line.) McKee also could not play hero late in the game when he had two chances to tie the game while down seven points. But there were also high-level throws mixed in — especially while under duress — and he spread the ball to nine players.
“I thought he did a lot of good things,” Sirianni said. “Like any game, he’s going to want some plays back, but I thought he did a lot of good things and we were able to move the ball. Obviously, we didn’t finish a couple times in the red zone for different reasons. I’ve got to look through that and see exactly why that happened. But yeah, I thought we moved the ball up and down the field against a well-respected opponent, and we’ve just got to finish down there.”
The unresolved question is whether McKee should have been starting at all. Sirianni was consistent from the start of the week about the decision to rest his starters and create a bye week for the Eagles, even with the No. 2 seed a possibility. He cited past runs to the Super Bowl when the Eagles had a week off before the playoffs.
There was also the weight of the 2023 season finale when A.J. Brown suffered an injury while the Eagles tried to play for seeding. In the locker room, players endorsed the benefit of rest. But the counterarguments suggested that the chance for the No. 2 seed and a potential home game in the divisional round was more valuable.
“We’re not gonna know the result of it (now) because it’s like, do we come out next week, fly around and just dominate? And now you can look back at it and be like, ‘Okay, this is amazing’,” said Moro Ojomo, who was one of the few starters who took on a considerable workload because the defensive linemen rotated in the game. “But then hindsight is … you guarantee (the chance for) two games back-to-back at home. Like, that’s huge. That rarely happens. … But different year, different path.”
“(The rest) is valuable because you get an extra week to get your body together,” 16-year veteran Brandon Graham said. “And on top of that, we’re just thankful to be in the postseason because a lot of people are going to have their exit meetings tomorrow. … We’re trying to win every game, of course. We came up short today, but I’m so thankful we get everyone back next week.”
Some players were even unaware that the Lions had hung on to win. The highlights flashed on the video screens inside the stadium throughout the game, so players had seen the Bears come back to tie the Lions and did not know if all the arguments would be for naught. Fans cheered at early score updates, although Sirianni never considered deviating from his plan. He had conviction in a decision made early in the week, and the Eagles thought they could win the game with McKee starting with a group of reserves. It was one of the parts of the scenario they could control.
As it turned out, the outcome they couldn’t control worked in their favor. An outcome within their control is why they finished the night as the No. 3 seed.