The Athletic: A word about Tanking for Trevor (Lawrence) as it pertains to the Patriots, Jets and Falcons

[Bronxville Jets Fan]

From this morning’s article by Mike Sando.  I’m officially nervous and really hoping Sam is not on the field in week 17.

A word about Tanking for Trevor (Lawrence) as it pertains to the Patriots, Jets and Falcons.

The tension between short-term interests and long-term ones builds as teams sink deeper in the standings and some focus shifts toward draft position. It’s notable in the Monday night game between the New England Patriots and New York Jets. If the Patriots win this game and prevail in the Week 17 rematch, they’ll be helping the currently 0-8 Jets position themselves for the top pick in the draft and, potentially, a shot at Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

“You think Bill Belichick wants Trevor Lawrence on the Jets?” an evaluator asked.

Belichick might not care as long as the Jets remain a franchise under questionable ownership and management. But in the big picture, and assuming Lawrence will become an excellent pro, should the Patriots care more about beating the Jets in what looks like a lost season for New England, or should they care more about their AFC East rival landing the highest-rated quarterback in the draft and the Jets’ presumed quarterback of choice?

“You can look at it as disrespecting the game, but this is a long-term business, too,” the evaluator said. “Belichick is smarter than just this week. I’ll be interested in what could be in play for Week 17. Do we want to see what we have in (Jarrett) Stidham?”

Last season produced an unusual outcome in Week 17. The Patriots lost at home to Miami despite being 16-point favorites and having playoff seeding on the line. That New England defeat ended a streak of 27 games since 2007 that New England won when favored by at least 14. Despite that outcome, the Dolphins were still in position to land Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick. With Tagovaiola in Miami and with Buffalo getting better production from 2018 first-round pick Allen, the Patriots find themselves surrounded by emerging quarterback talent in the AFC East, without a coveted young prospect of their own on the roster. For two decades, the Patriots pummeled the rest of the division with Brady providing a massive advantage over subpar quarterbacks on the Bills, Jets and Dolphins. That advantage has already shifted. It could shift more with every Jets defeat. The Patriots are 8.5-point favorites Monday night.

[Icer]

BB's ego is too big to lay down for an 0-15 Jets team. Not going to happen

[JetPotato]

Belichick will absolutely try to throw at least one of these games. 

Lucky for us, the Jets will still lose.

[Drums]

This is like that South Park episode where the kids try losing baseball games on purpose

[bitonti]

all this makes sense except 1) BB loathes the Jets 2) he'd never lay down for any reason 3) the Jets are so terrible they wouldn't win anyway 

even if BB "threw the game" lol the Jets would still lose, there's no bottom to how bad this football team can be 

[Rolloffjet]

What do the falcons have to do with it?

[CTJetsFan]

Even if (and he's not) BB were "laying down", you think he's going to get 53 players to do so? The players on the field will not lay down. They are professional athletes who play to win and continue their careers every time they step on the field. You think they (ex. Cam and Stidham) care about who the org wants to replace them with?

[Bronxville Jets Fan]

34 minutes ago, JetPotato said:

Belichick will absolutely try to throw at least one of these games. 

Lucky for us, the Jets will still lose.

You know he’ll play Stidham in week 17 if they are out of playoff contention.   

[Bronxville Jets Fan]

27 minutes ago, Rolloffjet said:

What do the falcons have to do with it?

I only pasted the part that relates to the Jets. Here’s the rest:

The Falcons are another interesting team in this regard. They were 0-5 when they fired coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff. They have won three of four since and will be long-shots to land one of the top picks.

“I’m not for tanking just to get a draft pick, but if you have made the decision you are going to reset your organization from top to bottom, then you figure out a way to not win,” the evaluator said. “Trevor Lawrence is an hour-and-a-half down the road. It’s a football decision and a business decision. You have had trouble filling the stands in Atlanta at your new stadium, you can get all those Clemson fans and get the best quarterback, and instead they have won three games since firing their head coach and GM.”

Losing on purpose has always been easier said than done. Players and coaches are competitors. A baseline level of integrity matters. The Falcons have good talent on offense in particular. They are playing the NFL’s second-toughest schedule of opposing quarterbacks, but on Sunday they faced a Denver team with Drew Lock and jumped to a 34-13 lead before winning, 34-27. There is probably nothing the Falcons could have done, plausibly and with any integrity, to be worse than the Jets this season, no matter how good Lawrence might look in their uniform next season.

[Ben Had]

BB could care less about the draft he's out to lay a 60 burger tonight.

[Adoni Beast]

Belichick would rather die than be the one team to an otherwise winless Jets season.

I also think Belichick would relish ruining Trevor’s career and making him see ghosts like he pimp slapped Darnold.

[Jetsfan80]

7 hours ago, Ben Had said:

BB could care less about the draft he's out to lay a 60 burger tonight.

 

3 hours ago, Adoni Beast said:

Belichick would rather die than be the one team to an otherwise winless Jets season.

I also think Belichick would relish ruining Trevor’s career and making him see ghosts like he pimp slapped Darnold.

 

[jetstream23]

8 hours ago, Icer said:

BB's ego is too big to lay down for an 0-15 Jets team. Not going to happen