Carlson To The Playoffs

It was 9:45 yesterday morning when TigerBlog got an alert that the weekly senior staff meeting would be starting in 15 minutes.

It was the first meeting of the new year. Each year during this time, everyone in Jadwin Gym - and in offices everywhere, presumably - co-workers would greet each other with 1) "happy new year" and 2) "how was your holiday?" 

TB has always wondered how long into the new year do you still have to greet people with "happy new year?" Certainly on the first work day, but how about after that? 

Had there been an in-person work day yesterday, then the gathering in the Office of Athletic Communications would have almost certainly have included some discussion of what in the world Eagles' coach Doug Pederson was thinking Sunday night in what became a 20-14 loss to Washington.

Why not take the very short field goal to tie it at 17-17 instead of going for it on fourth-and-goal from the four? And why take Jalen Hurts out in favor of Nate Sudfeld in the fourth quarter if you were trying to win the game, as Pederson said afterwards?

There was no excuse for that. Yes, Hurts wasn't playing really well, but the Eagles don't have any dominant franchise question greater than whether or not Hurts is the answer moving forward.

Wouldn't seeing how he pushes through a tough night in what was a somewhat big game, even if the Eagles had already been eliminated? Wasn't that more important than seeing what Sudfeld can do?

So what is the answer? Why did Pederson seemingly give up?

It wasn't like a loss had that huge of an impact on the draft. The Eagles will pick sixth. Had they won the game, they would have picked ninth. It seems like a big difference, but there's no guarantee at all that the sixth pick will be better than the ninth, even if it's Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

So why do it? Does he hate the Giants?

Had the Eagles won that game, then the Giants would have made the playoffs. They were eliminated when Washington won.

On the other hand, the Giants were really eliminated when they started out the year 0-5, and a team that finished 6-10 can't really complain about getting robbed of a postseason shot.

TB grew up a Giants fan, but he was ready to turn his back on the team when Princeton alum Marc Ross was let go after helping build two Super Bowl championship teams. The hiring of another Princetonian, Jason Garrett, as its offensive coordinator this year certainly helped make it possible to root for the team again.

Hopefully Garrett, the longtime Dallas head coach, gets another shot to run his own team at some point, if that's what he wants (and TB saw a story yesterday that suggests that Garrett is in the running for the Chargers head coaching job). In the meantime, the Giants seem to be pointed in the right direction, and Garrett can help take them the next step forward.

Speaking of teams that have taken a step forward, there are the Cleveland Browns, who ended the longest NFL playoff drought with a 24-22 win over Pittsburgh Sunday. Cleveland reached the postseason for the first time since 2002.

Princeton's Stephen Carlson made one of the biggest plays of the day for the Browns when he recovered the onside kick after the Steelers touchdown and missed two-point conversion late in the game.

Browns fans praising the heavens that Stephen Carlson played catcher in little league at some point pic.twitter.com/TwSsry8idJ

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) January 3, 2021

By the way, recovering an onsides kick in the NFL takes a certain degree of courage. How would you like to be on the bottom of that pile?

Carlson also had a special teams tackle in the game.

His reward for his work this season is a spot in the playoffs. The Browns will be at Pittsburgh for a rematch in the Sunday night game, which will be the sixth and final one in two days this weekend. If you think that the playoffs will go back to six teams per conference in the future, TB would have to disagree with that.

Pittsburgh, by the way, won't be resting anyone for that game like it did Sunday.

It's a great opportunity for Carlson. It gives you someone to root for in the playoffs. 

Or two someones, as you can root for Green Bay as well, with another former Tiger, John Lovett, on injured reserve. Lovett won a Super Bowl ring last year with Kansas City.