Eagles Pederson not revealing his holiday plans
PHILADELPHIA » To rest or not to rest key players isn’t the question Doug Pederson is wrestling with these days.
It’s a matter of when he’ll give the NFC East champs a break.
There’s no benefit in Pederson revealing his plans, lest the players lose interest. So, Pederson is approaching the Oakland Raiders game Monday night at the Linc as a building block.
“Play our best players and win,” Pederson said Saturday morning. “I think it’s important that they continue to play. If we’re in that position, if we’re fortunate enough to be in that position, to rest, I’ll make a decision at that time. But I think it’s important here in these next couple of games that we continue to play.”
Obviously, the Eagles (12-2) view the top playoff seed in the NFC as a priority. Even then, you need a plan to do it strategically, so the guys don’t get rocking chair comfy.
Eagles wide receiver Torrey Smith offered his first-hand knowledge of the difference between the top seed and the second seed.
In the 2011 season, Smith played for the Baltimore Ravens, who were coming off a solid 12-4 season, and a bye. They were the second seed in the AFC and came off the bye to defeat the Houston Texans in the divisional round.
However, the Ravens were eliminated the following week in the AFC championship by the top-seeded New England Patriots, who, Bill Belichick haters will remember, were soon to be defeated in the Super Bowl for a second time by Eli Manning and the New York Giants.
Think the Ravens wouldn’t have benefitted from having that game at home? Of course, the following season the Ravens played just one home playoff game on the way to winning the Super Bowl via a wild card.
“We played well enough to win,” Smith said of the Patriots game, a 23-20 setback. “We were in position to win the game. We’ve just got to make the plays. I think there’s something to be said for rest. But I also think you stay balanced, too, when you continue playing. We took the long road to win the Super Bowl the next year. I think it can go either way. There are some teams that play extremely well off the bye, and there are other teams that come out flat. At the end of the day it’s how you come out. We were really good in Baltimore coming off the bye.”
Subtly, Eagles veterans are spreading the message to younger players that they need to keep their focus on the game they’re preparing for.
“At this point of the season, especially when you get to the playoffs, once you get there it doesn’t matter how good you were before, it doesn’t matter how bad you were before, or how good your offense was or how good your defense was,” Smith said. “It’s all about one game. You have to be the best person, the best team that game.”
The vets can pound that point home again during the bye week following the Dec. 31st regular season finale against the Dallas Cowboys, a game in which Pederson must discern whether the regulars play “one play, one series, one quarter, I’ll make that decision at that time.
“I think it’s important to maintain the edge, maintain the aggressiveness,” Pederson said.
The bye, by the way, isn’t at all like the one during the regular season. Unless, say, Nick Foles and Zach Ertz take their wives to Cabo, Mexico, like Tony Romo and Jason Witten did before the playoffs back in their day.
“It’s not like the in-season bye week where it’s like, see you all later,” Smith said. “No, in my opinion you have to work through the week and keep the week as normal as possible while getting a little rest. You want to get your body back, but you also want to stay in rhythm. Maybe just get the weekend off.”
The Eagles can use the rest. Especially veterans Mychal Kendricks (foot), Stefen Wisniewski (ankle) and Jalen Mills (ankle), who Pederson will list as questionable on the injury report.
That obviously happens sooner, rather than later, the better the seed.
“To have the opportunity to do that at home, and you win and you do it again, that would be huge for us here,” Smith said. “That’s why there’s no rest in here. Everyone’s foot is on the gas to keep this thing going.”