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Lazuli  1d ago (text post)   135 thread views

Weekly NFL Thread: Week 13

Let's chat about the National Football League. This week's schedule (all times Eastern):

Thu 2024-11-28 12:30PM Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions
Thu 2024-11-28 4:30PM New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys
Thu 2024-11-28 8:20PM Miami Dolphins @ Green Bay Packers
Fri 2024-11-29 3:00PM Las Vegas Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs
Sun 2024-12-01 1:00PM Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots
Sun 2024-12-01 1:00PM Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings
Sun 2024-12-01 1:00PM Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Sun 2024-12-01 1:00PM Tennessee Titans @ Washington Commanders
Sun 2024-12-01 1:00PM Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals
Sun 2024-12-01 1:00PM Los Angeles Chargers @ Atlanta Falcons
Sun 2024-12-01 1:00PM Seattle Seahawks @ New York Jets
Sun 2024-12-01 4:05PM Los Angeles Rams @ New Orleans Saints
Sun 2024-12-01 4:05PM Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers
Sun 2024-12-01 4:25PM Philadelphia Eagles @ Baltimore Ravens
Sun 2024-12-01 8:20PM San Francisco 49ers @ Buffalo Bills
Mon 2024-12-02 8:15PM Cleveland Browns @ Denver Broncos
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Was there some kind of cap reason that made it more advantageous for the Giants to bench Jones than release him?

It was to avoid the possibility of his injury guarantees kicking in on his contract. If he got hurt (on the metlife turf for that matter) he'd be owed more money. It'll never happen, but I think the league needs to work out some "for the sake of being classy" CBA rules in the future that will allow teams to get cap relief in spots where the alternative strategies indicated harm the public image of the NFL. Danny Dimes, Russell Wilson, Tua Taigovailoa, Deshaun Watson. We have these conversations where it would all feel so much nicer if the salary cap weren't involved, but the salary cap is such an important part of the team building process that one can't afford to ignore it.

I'm deeply ambivalent on the topic of tanking. On the one hand I prefer cyclical contention to the brutal oligarchy of the European leagues, where it's understood that the only way a team really goes from worst to first is if it gets purchased by some evil billionaire. I love to watch a homegrown team turn it around. On the other, I see so many teams tank and never really get out of it. Even a team like the Process Sixers, that achieved drafting a perennial MVP candidate, ultimately never got over the hump and built a real stable likeable team with a winning culture. Losing for the sake of losing is often a cul-de-sac.

This is why I will never stop stumping for the idea of redistributing draft picks based on bottom 5-10 teams at the trade deadline, which then turns into a new league table where the best team out of that group gets the #1 pick, and so on and so forth. Incentivize winning, even after the a team is out of the playoff race. Today there are only a couple teams outside the bottom ten who aren't looking at any shot at the playoffs, maybe Dallas and Indy and Chicago feel a little left out. Replace #TankForTravis with #WinForTravis. Strictly speaking, it wouldn't be impossible for Jacksonville or the Giants to outplay the Bengals down the stretch, especially if they were incentivized to actually try.

I'm excited for the Eagles-Steelers, they're likely to get stumped by Pittsburgh. But the more important games are against the Ravens, who seem to have a bit of choker to them. Beat the Ravens, and all they have to do the rest of the season is beat the teams they're supposed to beat.

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