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Birds vs. Commies Could Reportedly be Flexed Off Sunday Night Football
By Matt Schultz
Published:
The Delaware Valley has known just how bad the Eagles look for a good three weeks now, and it appears everyone else is starting to catch on, too: According to Rob Tornoe at the Inquirer, the NFL is considering moving the Eagles’ Week 8 matchup against the Commanders off Sunday Night Football because both teams are so ass:
The Birds (2-3) are scheduled to face the Washington Commanders (1-3-1) on NBC’s Sunday Night Football in Week 8, a game that looks a lot worse on paper than it did a few months ago when NFL schedule makers put it in primetime.
As a result, the NFL is considering whether to flex Eagles-Commanders off NBC and replace it with a better matchup.
You can’t blame the NFL for mulling this over. I get it. The Eagles are bad. The Commanders are worse. Neither team plays an interesting-looking brand of football. Both teams make copious amounts of mistakes and play ugly and do some extraordinarily dumb shit (this site has written plenty about the Eagles being dumb, but the Commanders not stopping the clock to kick a game-winning field goal on Sunday was some generationally dumb stuff, it was awesome).
So sure. If the NFL wants SNF to have “good football,” and “nice throws,” and “offense” in a game between “contenders,” this is probably not the matchup to go with. This game will have four failed tush pushes, 180 total passing yards, sixteen game-stopping injuries, and Nick Sirianni looking like he’s going to cry/vomit on the sidelines. This might not be a good fit. I understand.
But I do think the NFL may be underestimating how interesting it can be to watch bad football, too. Not when it’s your favorite team, of course, but for the average fan? Watching people do stupid stuff can be great. Already mentioned it in this blog, but it’s worth repeating — this was awesome:
Then you gotta consider all the hate-watchers. Are the Eagles the most hated team in the NFL? If they’re not, they’re certainly top five. Imagine the droves of fans who’d tune in just to watch Nick Sirianni do something so nuts he starts ruminating on big free throws he missed back in high school again for some reason:
"I didn’t make the right decision, and I lost us that game." Nick Sirianni on the Eagles’ loss in London. https://t.co/eq72CwdmVn
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 11, 2026
“And, you know, had a chance to win the game. And then for me to not make the right decision in that, you feel like you let everyone down. It’s just like you would feel if you missed a free throw at the end of the game, or if you had a drop. I’ve been in both of those places. Um, and, those ones stick with you, and that will stick with me for a long time. All I know is that I’ll work my butt off to get better from it. Um, but yeah, that one will hurt for a long time. I still think about those other things that have lost games for us in the past, as far as, you know, when I played. Um, a long time ago.“
The more I think about it with my bias set aside, I bet it is pretty nice watching these Eagles. Just about every game, you see something inexplicably bad. That possibility and potential baked into every game is exciting. Who knows what could go wrong in Week 8? Who knows how spectacular and grandiose and humiliating it could be? If my wellbeing wasn’t tied to the Birds being good, I’d be interested to see it.
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com