Week 16 is a big one for the Philadelphia Eagles. They have an opportunity to not only clinch the NFC East division but also the No. 1 overall seed in the conference with a victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
There is a big advantage to clinching early as the Eagles could then find some rest for their players who need it and can begin shifting their focus to the postseason. However, clinching this week will be difficult as the Eagles could be without starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts.
The MVP candidate suffered a right shoulder sprain against the Chicago Bears this past weekend. The injury occurred late in the third quarter and there is a chance that he will be sidelined for a game or two because of it.
While this would normally be damning for a team, the Eagles can rest a little better knowing they have already clinched a playoff spot. Also, they have arguably the best backup quarterback in the NFL in Gardner Minshew.
A strong argument could be made that Minshew deserves a starting spot in the NFL. It is hard to imagine that there are 32 players better than him currently in the NFL, but the Eagles are certainly happy that they picked him up from the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2021 offseason in a trade.
Minshew has shown that he can produce no matter the circumstances that he is facing. He stepped in for two games last season and performed well, going 1-1. Despite playing on some truly abysmal Jaguars teams, Minshew’s numbers are strong.
One area in which he excels is ball security. In 30 appearances and 22 starts, Minshew has thrown only 12 interceptions on 861 pass attempts. As shared by NFL on CBS, Minshew has one of the best touchdown-to-interception ratios among all active quarterbacks with at least 500 passes attempted.
Minshew’s mark of 3.42 is third behind only Aaron Rodgers at 4.62 and Patrick Mahomes at 3.88. Rounding out the top five behind him is Russell Wilson at 3.26 and Tom Brady at 3.07.
That is some impressive company for Minshew to be sharing that list with. Multiple MVP awards have been won among that group and each has won at least one Super Bowl ring as well.
While there is certainly more to playing the quarterback position than the touchdown-to-interception ratio, another strong showing in relief of Hurts should put Minshew on the radar for quarterback-needy teams this offseason. This is a golden opportunity for Minshew to showcase his talents as he heads into free agency in 2023.
