Weren’t the Eagles a .500 team through week 4 and then won it all last season? You are correct that some teams mail it in once they’ve got the playoff seed locked but its a small handful of games. The broncos were a .500 team through game 6 and were in a wild card game last season.

In those few games where they sit starters, the backups absolutely want to do their best to get starting jobs, the games aren’t uncontested.