going 9-7 is way way better than going 4-12 with Geno (again)... this team has enough talent to reach the playoffs, and it would be a complete disservice to the fans and players to come up that lame just to give Geno 'another look'.
I root for a win every week unless that guy is there. Mariota, Winston, we should have tanked last year like Rommel. Of course if that shit head Idzik had just taken Teddy in 2014 none of this would have mattered. _
that's the key. we need a game manager, we need the offensive supporting cast to be decent, and we need the D to be very stout. if the coaches do their jobs, i think we have that.
its situational like you said.... if you already suck, and a qb is there, you tank your tail off.... from a coaching/gm level. i.e. put scrubs in. otherwise, you play to win the game.
you are leaving out one MAJOR factor and thats special teams.... the whole Defense + run game + game manager completely falls apart when you dont have great special teams play. look at the ravens teams that won with defense - elite special teams. look at that bears team that got to the superbowl - elite special teams. look at the jets teams that went to back to back championship games - outstanding special teams. i look at our special teams, and to me not only is it not a great unit, its probably a tick below average outside of place kicking. i also look at our safties and linebackers and see the potential for this to be a good but not great defense.
Then what? What are we doing next year when expectations are a little higher? Hoping fitz can lead us to 9-7 again? are we striving to be the one and done Bengals or championship contenders?
Yeah, but only if the defense starts playing like we all expect them to play. If the starters play like they did in the first two preseason games we are going to need Brady, Favre and Bart Staar all out there at the same time.
we do the same thing we would have done if we went 4-12.... fill out the roster with depth and competition, including the QB position. 'expectations' are irrelevant. going 4-12 buys you less time if anything....as the coaches would already be on the hot seat for failing that miserably despite this talent. you grow a team by winning, not by losing.
defense has to play well. we brought in a coach who specializes on D, there isn't a big scheme switch, and the GM loaded up to correct last years obvious deficiencies. it's by far the strength of this team, and i agree, our season hinges on it.
Don't get me wrong. I am not advocating tanking. Just that we would be better going forward losing while cycling thru qbs than being 9-7 with fitz all year. specifically this year where the coach and g.m. have the most latitude as first timers
Tanking in pro sports is a myth, it doesn't exist. If somebody sucks they just flat out suck, not because they want to lose.
i just completely disagree. that latitude dries up quickly (see Idzik)... teams need to learn how to win, while they build up depth in talent, and find their ultimate answer at QB. that's how teams grow, and it's also how to put your eventual QB in the most stable position to succeed.
It's impossible to tell a player to suck. Even if the owner gave the GM and the Headcoach the thumbs up to tank which rarely would happen. At the end of the day it's up to the players, they're the ones performing on the field. And they're not gonna play like crap on purpose just so the team loses as many games as possible, because the year after those guys who sucked will be gone. Have fun trying to get a new job with somebody else with that bad tape of you sucking and getting dominated. Players don't care about the team or the long term success, all they want is money and security for themselves. Like every other job. Nobody takes a paycut to help the team.
The Buccanneers removed all their starters at halftime in week 17 to intentionally blow a 13 point lead for the top pick. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ers-tank-to-secure-top-pick-in-2015-nfl-draft
And if I'm not mistaken there were even games with playoff implications where teams didn't start all their best players. NM, that was different. That was where teams who had locked up home field let their players rest even if the other team may or may not have made the playoffs themselves based on the outcome.
Fair enough, but that's different, you can do that one game, two games maybe, late in the year, situational wise late in the game or early in the game. Playoff teams do that, I'm sure horrible teams have done that. But that's not really the same as telling players to suck this year so we can draft a QB in the top 3. But obviously benching your best players is a good way to make your team suck. But I think it's impossible to tell a player to suck, that just doesn't make any sense. Players have to be really stupid to do that. And those aren't the guys you want on your team, guys that don't want to win. And if you look at the game you posted, it's perfect evidence of why tanking doesn't exist. If tanking did exist Lovie would not have had to pull all his star players out of the lineup in halftime, which made him and the Buccs look like complete jokes and sellouts. If tanking existed he would have told his guys to not play hard, to suck. They didn't. They played hard, they did all they could to win. So he just flat out benched them. It's a POS move.
The importance of special teams is slowly being phased out of the game. With the new rules the percentage of touchbacks has gone through the roof so good coverage and return units are basically moot. Elite punt returners are also not easy to come by throughout the league. If we can get 5-7 yard punt returns by Kerley and give up no more than 10-12 yards I don't really see special teams becoming an issue. If the rules hadn't changed, you're absolutely right since starting position is important. Almost every team usually starts at the 20 now anyways so it's not nearly as important as it once was.
