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Lazuli  1d ago (text post)   141 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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How much of Barkley success do you want to give him vs his situation?

Whatever the difference is between how Saquon is doing this season and how Swift did last season, and Miles Sanders the year before that. Literally the exact same team on offense, Saquon is the only major change. Jason Kelce was swapped for Mekhi Becton on the O-Line, but the line might actually be better on net than last year, not because Becton is better than Kelce necessarily, but because Jurgens is a better center than he is a guard, and even though Kelce-Jurgens at C is a slight downgrade, Jurgens-Becton at RG is a huge upgrade. Beyond that there's a new WR3 if they're playing 11 and Calcaterra has surpassed Stoll at TE2 if they're playing 12, and every now and then they trot out BVS in 21 which they never did in '23 with Swift, but those are marginal changes.

Saquon is a massive upgrade over Swift or Sanders. Swift had a good season, Saquon is having a transcendant season.

And the argument goes for everyone who is in competition for MVP. It's a team sport. QB's need to throw the ball to someone who catches it, and they need to get protection from an O-Line, and they need a running back to keep the defense on their toes. A good QB with a quick release makes an O-Line look good, an indecisive QB can make a good O-Line give up sacks all the time.

Ultimately by my normal standards if the season ended today, I'd want to see Josh Allen get MVP. But if they don't give it to Allen, I'd say Saquon has as good a claim as any other player when you look at how the team improved from his play. Mahomes isn't actually playing that well, Goff isn't that inspiring, Lamar has thrown up some real skunks in big games and isn't doing enough to get it consecutive years. After that I'm just not seeing it. But that's if the season ended today, there's still time.

There's something to be said for it being easier to get an average RB than an average QB, but it gets a little circular at a certain point.

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