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Lazuli  2d ago (text post)   144 thread views

Weekly NFL Thread: Week 14

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

Thu 2024-12-05 8:15PM Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Carolina Panthers @ Philadelphia Eagles
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM New Orleans Saints @ New York Giants
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Las Vegas Raiders @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sun 2024-12-08 4:05PM Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals
Sun 2024-12-08 4:25PM Buffalo Bills @ Los Angeles Rams
Sun 2024-12-08 4:25PM Chicago Bears @ San Francisco 49ers
Sun 2024-12-08 8:20PM Los Angeles Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs
Mon 2024-12-09 8:15PM Cincinnati Bengals @ Dallas Cowboys
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I'm not sure what the semantic difference is between "stop" and "contain", but whatever. Anyway, I'm not too worried about the Steelers' ability to "contain" him. Derrick Henry isn't quite as good as Barkley, but they were able to limit his effectiveness while still having to deal with Lamar Jackson and one of the best passing offenses in the league. If they sell out to contain Barkley and force Hurts to pass, it could be a long day for the Eagles offense. That being said, I don't see the Steelers scoring a ton of points against the Eagles' defense, so I expect this game to be a slugfest that could go ether way.

I'm not sure what the semantic difference is between "stop" and "contain"

It's an old Dan Patrick catchphrase from Sportscenter, but it was originally used to refer to Wilt Chamberlain. The idea being that you can't stop him entirely, he will put up some numbers, but at best you can prevent him from putting up numbers good enough to beat you. So when gameplanning, one ought not to assume that one can find a perfect counter, merely plan to try to limit the damage.

The Steelers have a fair chance, but I don't think Russell Wilson is likely to put up serious points against the Eagles. The Bucs have the blueprint to beat the Eagles: get out in front early, then put the blitz to Jalen Hurts and make him come at you. The Eagles offense functions by offering more threats than the defense can counter: two good WRs, a good tight end, a good running back, and a good running QB. There can never be enough bodies to take care of every threat, and a good O-Line prevents plays from just getting blown up*. But I don't think the Steelers can push the Eagles into pass-only scripts, especially given how we've seen Barkley able to hit 30-50-70 yard TD runs.

*I will say I don't really get a lot of the stats they use to try and "prove" how great the OL are, in that I'm always reading things like "Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata haven't given up a sack in [Huge number]" And I've seen Jalen Hurts get sacked. A lot. During [Huge Number.] So blame is just this weird little thing they throw around I guess.

"How you do stop Wilt Chamberlain?"

"Meet him at the airport with a gun."

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