We are so far into this year’s overall football season that the College Football Playoff has been officially finalized. It has been the best time of year since late August, but welcome to the nirvana of it all.
Such is true relative to the NFL, as well, what with various playoff berths going off like the flickering lights on Christmas trees. (The ones that don’t move or flicker at all are better, as nobody likes that movement in the background or their peripheral vision.)
With so much action happening on a weekly basis it is possible that you sometimes miss a thing or two. This is where we, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, come in to save the day.
This is The Skinny Post and we are about to fly through the most important things that happened on Sunday of Week 14.
The Rams might be a thing again after their big win over Buffalo
RJ:
A few years ago, Michael and I were having a conversation. This particular chat was during the offseason in the spring of 2022 when the Los Angeles Rams were reigning Super Bowl Champions.
What I offered to Michael was that nobody really cared that the Rams won the Super Bowl. They don’t have any real fans, so nobody was happy, but nobody was upset either. As a Dallas Cowboys fan, the offseason where the Philadelphia Eagles were reigning champions was insufferable. That’s how you know a team matters, when what they do impacts other people.
I say all of this to say… the Rams are really good, but maybe nobody cares about it again. Sunday was a masterclass of going shot for shot with one of the hottest teams in the league in the Buffalo Bills and the Rams came out on top, in front of many Bills Mafia members who made the trip out west.
Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua… tell me this group isn’t going to disrupt someone’s dream in the playoffs a month(ish) from now.
I believe (but also don’t care).
Michael:
It was a wild but true thought back then and I believe it’s just as wild and true now two years later.
The Rams are good — or at least, the trio of Stafford, Nacua, and Kupp are. I’m not necessarily ready to say this team is well-built and ready to take on the world, but holy smokes are they a completely different team when those three are playing together.
This season, if you just take away one of Nacua or Kupp for a single game, that offense does not look like it did on Sunday and that’s directly related to their 7-6 record. With Nacua on the field, they’re 5-3. When he’s out, they’re 2-3.
The numbers are less drastic when it comes to Kupp, however. They’re 2-2 without him and 6-4 with him in the lineup.
Essentially, the Rams are not a winning football team without that trio. I don’t think I can call them a GREAT team if they can’t find a way to win more without a full-powered offense, but who cares what I have to say when reality is that the trio is healthy and putting up numbers.
They’ll surely be a tough out in the playoffs (if they make it).
Who needs the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft more: Raiders or Giants?
Michael:
The Giants and Raiders are in lock-step for the rights to the first-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft would the season end today. So I ask, which of these two terrible teams needs that pick the most in hopes of turning around their franchise’s fortunes the fastest?
Both teams have storied histories and both have been downright stinky this year. The Giants and their decision to extend Daniel Jones when they did only looked worse and worse as the season went on before they finally cut bait and granted his release.
The Raiders and their decision not to invest more in the quarterback in the 2024 draft also has left them in quarterback purgatory after both their co-starters (Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell) have seemingly been lost with severe injuries.
Which one of these needs the chance to draft Shedeur Sanders the most? (Yes, that’s my QB1 for this year’s draft).
I think I’m going with the Giants on this one. Partly because the other option is the Raiders and I’d like them suffer as a franchise for as long as possible, but also because New York seems to be a lot closer to actually turning it around and becoming a respectable team. Give this team a quarterback who can consistently get the rock to Malik Nabers and then continue building on the identity of the Giants blue-collar defense.
RJ:
Why do believe New York is closer? What at all suggests this?
Let me say that I recognize that what I am about to say sounds very stupid: The New York Giants won the most fluky 2 Super Bowls of all time and it has doomed them.
Let me also say that as a Cowboys fan I would trade positions with them in a heartbeat, but that the Giants won their two titles in supremely lucky fashion (which is okay! the titles still count!) convinced them that they are doing things properly as a franchise.
I think the Raiders are closer to rock bottom as an overall franchise from a culture standpoint and sometimes that is what is truly necessary to start the rebuild. Shedeur could provide a level of legitimacy that they have not had in an extremely long time where the Giants will take someone like him and try to force him to conform to how they run business.
Does anybody care what happens to the Titans or Jaguars at this point?
RJ:
It is a longstanding trope to affiliate the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars with Thursday Night Football in terms of the worst kind of games that particular slot can offer. This is generally true because the Titans and Jaguars lead the NFL in “eh” energy.
The “eh” was off the charts on Sunday afternoon. In case you were unaware, the Jaguars won in Tennessee by a score of 10-6. The 16 total points scored were easily the lowest of any game across Week 14, and in fact there were 3 instances of a team having more than that in a single quarter on Sunday. Our 3 champions in this case were the Seattle Seahawks, aforementioned Bills as well as the Rams that no one cares about.
What is even interesting with the Titans and/or Jaguars these days? This game existed and will live in the record book, but did anybody seriously enjoy watching it?
These teams stink.
Michael:
My fondest memories of the Titans and Jaguars playing were back in my college days (2012-2016) when those Thursday Night Football games between these two featured the Titans’ powder blue uniforms against the Jaguars’ mustard yellow uniforms. I also remember being a little more invested in those games because I was a big T.J. Yeldon (Jaguars legend) believer and always seemed to draft the running back in fantasy. Since the Titans were #NotGood during that time, it was always a good week for Yeldon’s point total.
Now? It’s sort’ve the same old schtick but without the ironic comedy that came with rooting on Blake Bortles. At least in a 10-6 game back then, you probably got a kick out of something Bortles did to keep the Jaguars competitive, but not in this edition. Fans of the NFL were treated to Mac Jones and Will Levis. Blegh.
Honestly, if you didn’t bring up this game, I would have simply not thought about it and went on with my life like it did not exist. But since you did, I now have to care about it (just for this little portion of TSP, but still).
Is Kirk Cousins washed after throwing 0 TDs and 8 INTs in the past four games?
Michael:
What is it lately with quarterbacks getting sizable guaranteed money in their contracts just to see their play take a tumble off a cliff?
We’ve discussed the Deshaun Watson contract on here before which is the poster child for deals gone wrong. Now we have Cousins who is in the middle of what may be the worst play of his career. After receiving a four-year contract from the Falcons with $100 million guaranteed this offseason, Cousins started out well enough to give his team a 6-3 record.
Since then, the Falcons are 0-4. Cousins has zero touchdowns and eight interceptions since their last win on November 3rd. The recent loss on Sunday to the Vikings knocked them out of first place in the NFC South, as well.
So to put it simply: What the HECK is going on? Atlanta has good players on both sides of the ball. Is it really all Cousins’ fault? Should first-round rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. get a look?
I feel bad for this team.
RJ:
Let me say that the Falcons tweeted this right after beating the Cowboys and that they are winless since. I’m just saying.
Are the Falcons paying some weird price for making a lame joke? Maybe. I’m not saying they’re not!
But in all honesty as someone who has fought to give Kirk Cousins his rightful props in the past, this whole situation is rather alarming. On one hand, Kirk is fine because he finessed the deal that he did from Atlanta, but I’m not sure how you can’t start the clock on Penix as soon as 2025 (and maybe sooner).
It is super predictable, but I for one am excited about watching Cousins quarterback the San Francisco 49ers next season after Kyle Shanahan trades for him.
