Sometimes in the NFL, just like in life, it pays to be more lucky than good.
The latest and most salient embodiment of that maxim was Washington’s 20-14 win over Philadelphia on Sunday night. Washington did some good in what should be considered a massive building block win for head coach Ron Rivera, but it must be acknowledged that the reason Washington took that step was because of Philadelphia’s atrocious play and Doug Pederson’s bizarre decision-making.
The latter is what everyone was talking about before the game was even over, so much so that hometown writers were openly questioning whether Pederson was tanking the game either as a hedge against the upcoming Carson Wentz offseason carousel or so the Eagles could get the sixth pick in the upcoming draft instead of the ninth.