The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo, Brazil about two months from me writing this and I think I can speak for fans everywhere when I say that’s just not quick enough.
The NFL has turned itself into a true 365 day-a-year league and through all of the phases like the draft, free agency, and minicamp, fans get more and more anxious for players to hit the field in real game situations.
After a disappointing end to the 2023 season and the major organizational overhauls that have taken place since, like the arrival of OC Kellen Moore and DC Vic Fangio, Eagles fans are chomping at the bit to see if this team can rebound.
We all have been suckered into the hype machine surrounding players throughout camp and practices to the point where it means little until we witness those improvements with our own eyes in the game.
While the games that matter for winning the division, securing the best possible seed, and making the playoff run fans were hopeful to see after their 10-1 start won’t come any sooner than September 6, wouldn’t it be nice to look forward to the first preseason game on August 9’s with similar reverence?
Preseason games have never mattered for their results and that isn’t something that would change if starters played more snaps, but the feeling of real NFL football dissipates quickly when the majority of the snaps are being taken by third stringers and camp bodies.
Those snaps are extremely meaningful for the players at the end of the depth chart trying to secure employment and opportunity, but fans are caring less each year as the players who will be playing on Sundays during the regular season are nowhere to be found.
The reason why teams are holding out starters isn’t a mystery as player contracts become more lucrative and protecting the availability of these athletes for meaningful games is paramount.
As the league continues to add more games to the regular season and playoffs teams are looking for every advantage they can to make sure stars stay healthy, the preseason becomes more marginalized to the point where fans are hardly interested.
What has the fallout from this deterioration of the preseason wrought on the regular season?
Sloppy offense, out of sync defense, missed tackles, and surprisingly enough, higher injury rates over the course of the first couple games with Week Three being the peak of the whole season according to an analytic study hosted by the NFL themselves.
We always hear about how important it is for players to hit and get hit for that muscle memory their bodies have imbued to kick in.
When teams are doing less full pad workouts, less hitting overall all summer long, and holding players out of preseason games, the first opportunity they get for that physical contact comes Week One.
For years the starters were expected to play entire quarters if not halves of preseason games which surely left room for injuries during these exhibition contests, but also helped sharpen their bodies and chemistry.
Some of the bad football can be attributed to early season woes but even when stacked against every other opening week since 2001, offenses combined for dead last over those 22 years in EPA/Play (Expected Points Added per Play).
This stat, for those who may not be analytic nerds like me, directly measures how well a team performs compared to their expectations on a play-by-play basis.
This directly ties into a team’s ability to execute and the play-calling that supports that performance. These numbers, being so low, show a direct correlation to unpreparedness of NFL teams at the start of when games really matter.
The NFL has cornered the North American sports market in part because of the limited number of games in comparison to others which in turn, adds levels of importance to winning each week.
Why are teams willingly allowing themselves to lose edges in winning early week games that can be deciding factors in not only securing a higher seed, but a seat in the playoffs in general?
GM’s, coaches, and players will all point to the ever-growing popularity of joint practices that give teams the ability to stack their talent against opposing teams in controlled environments that allow for situational aspects of the game to be practiced in repetition.
The majority of these practices take place behind closed doors where the media can’t record or cover, which is no mystery why teams prefer this method as preseason replacements.
While I am all for these practices to continue and surely see the value in which they bring, once those bright lights and fans start to pile in by the tens of thousands, it creates an environment that truly can’t be reproduced within their preferred bubbles.
Gone may be the days of starters playing significant snaps in the preseason but maybe your starting QB should take a few reps before the Week 1 bell rings?
This process of easy practices and light workloads for the Eagles has been consistent across the Nick Sirianni era so while I don’t expect much to change, I think a tweak or two would be welcomed.
While it has always been said it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, for Nick Sirianni and this Eagles team trying to wash the bad taste they left in fans mouths the need for a strong start is as important as anything they hope to accomplish.
Their record was great until it wasn’t last season but anyone with a set of eyes would have recognized how lucky they were to have that 10-1 record with how sloppy they played.
I think grabbing control of the narrative circling this team at the beginning of August with starters sprinkling in more and showcasing what these coordinator changes can bring would be smarter than allowing for the stink of 2023 to fester any further.
Get the starters some reps in the preseason and make sure you are ready to roll against the Packers in Brazil, a game that has playoff seeding implications written all over it. This team can’t afford to treat these 3 preseason games as throwaways after throwing away 2023.
Your job might just depend on it Nick. *
Email Matt Santoleri at m.santoleri13@gmail.com
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