We’ve entered the age of tanking in the NFL
We’ve entered the age of tanking in the NFL
In Week 17 of the 2014 regular season, the two-win Tampa Bay Buccaneers held a 20-7 halftime lead over the New Orleans Saints. But then a peculiar thing happened: Tampa Bay pulled many of its starters at halftime and nearly all of them by the fourth quarter. Bucs quarterback Josh McCown attempted just three passes in the second half and took a safety on the game’s final meaningful play late in the fourth quarter, a play in which he was protected by three offensive linemen who had barely seen the field that season. Those points — the last in a string of 16 unanswered by the Saints — cemented a 23-20 New Orleans win.
cheered the result. With the loss, the Bucs secured the No. 1 pick in the next year’s NFL draft, in which they would take Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston. And while everyone involved denied that an NBA-style tank job had just taken place — the Bucs claimed they simply wanted to get everyone on the roster playing time so they could evaluate things for the next season — such claims stretched the realm of plausibility.
Three years later, Tampa Bay is considered a team that’s ready for playoff contention, thanks in no small part to Winston.
The Cleveland Browns aren’t quite there yet — will they ever be? — but they didn’t wait until Week 17 last season to apparently lay down. In September, the team’s front office replaced injured place kicker Patrick Murray with Cody Parkey instead of the more experienced (and expensive) Robbie Gould, who was available and desired by special teams coach Chris Tabor. In Week 3 against the Dolphins, Murray missed three field goals — one of them on the last play of regulation — and the Browns lost in overtime. Cleveland ended up doing the 2014 Bucs one better (worse?) by winning just one game to secure the No. 1 pick, where it took Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett.
Former NFL general manager Bill Polian says everyone should be ready for more of this.
“The thing that worries me is that the Browns essentially tanked the season last year and no one said — except a few of us — said anything about it. And it may well be that this is something that can spread around the league, and I don’t think that’s good for the sport in the long run. Because in the end it robs the customers of the chance to see a competitive team,” he told ESPN’s “Mike & Mike” on Tuesday (quotes via Pro Football Talk).
“They lost their place kicker to injury,” Polian said specifically of the 2016 Browns. “Robbie Gould was out there. They signed a player with no track record at all.”
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Polian would probably know, having presided over a 2011 Colts team that tried to replace an injured Peyton Manning by luring Kerry Collins out of retirement (he played three games before a concussion ended his season and career) and then going with Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky (who combined to play just eight more NFL games after that season). Indianapolis won just two games and ended up with the pick that became Andrew Luck, and while losing a Hall of Fame quarterback won’t do anyone any good, the feeling was out therethat the Colts specifically chose that Manning-less time to start charting their future path by winning as few games as possible.
It’s gotten to the point where teams aren’t even waiting for the season to start before they decide to tank. The Jets aren’t even waiting until training camp. This week, they got rid of veterans David Harris and Eric Decker after already purging Ryan Fitzpatrick, Nick Mangold, Nick Folk, Breno Giacomini, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Marshall from the roster earlier this year. Bryce Petty, Josh McCown and Christian Hackenberg are the three quarterbacks on their roster. It’s going to be a grim season.
[The Jets won’t stop until they are the youngest — and worst — team in the NFL]
Awaiting the Jets at the end of their trash rainbow: Southern California quarterback Sam Darnold, who has to play one more year of college and has been compared favorably to Luck and Tony Romo. And while they’ll never admit to tanking, the pieces are in place.
We’ve entered the age of tanking in the NFL
In Week 17 of the 2014 regular season, the two-win Tampa Bay Buccaneers held a 20-7 halftime lead over the New Orleans Saints. But then a peculiar thing happened: Tampa Bay pulled many of its starters at halftime and nearly all of them by the fourth quarter. Bucs quarterback Josh McCown attempted just three passes in the second half and took a safety on the game’s final meaningful play late in the fourth quarter, a play in which he was protected by three offensive linemen who had barely seen the field that season. Those points — the last in a string of 16 unanswered by the Saints — cemented a 23-20 New Orleans win.
cheered the result. With the loss, the Bucs secured the No. 1 pick in the next year’s NFL draft, in which they would take Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston. And while everyone involved denied that an NBA-style tank job had just taken place — the Bucs claimed they simply wanted to get everyone on the roster playing time so they could evaluate things for the next season — such claims stretched the realm of plausibility.
Three years later, Tampa Bay is considered a team that’s ready for playoff contention, thanks in no small part to Winston.
The Cleveland Browns aren’t quite there yet — will they ever be? — but they didn’t wait until Week 17 last season to apparently lay down. In September, the team’s front office replaced injured place kicker Patrick Murray with Cody Parkey instead of the more experienced (and expensive) Robbie Gould, who was available and desired by special teams coach Chris Tabor. In Week 3 against the Dolphins, Murray missed three field goals — one of them on the last play of regulation — and the Browns lost in overtime. Cleveland ended up doing the 2014 Bucs one better (worse?) by winning just one game to secure the No. 1 pick, where it took Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett.
Former NFL general manager Bill Polian says everyone should be ready for more of this.
“The thing that worries me is that the Browns essentially tanked the season last year and no one said — except a few of us — said anything about it. And it may well be that this is something that can spread around the league, and I don’t think that’s good for the sport in the long run. Because in the end it robs the customers of the chance to see a competitive team,” he told ESPN’s “Mike & Mike” on Tuesday (quotes via Pro Football Talk).
“They lost their place kicker to injury,” Polian said specifically of the 2016 Browns. “Robbie Gould was out there. They signed a player with no track record at all.”
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National sports news, in your inbox daily.
Polian would probably know, having presided over a 2011 Colts team that tried to replace an injured Peyton Manning by luring Kerry Collins out of retirement (he played three games before a concussion ended his season and career) and then going with Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky (who combined to play just eight more NFL games after that season). Indianapolis won just two games and ended up with the pick that became Andrew Luck, and while losing a Hall of Fame quarterback won’t do anyone any good, the feeling was out therethat the Colts specifically chose that Manning-less time to start charting their future path by winning as few games as possible.
It’s gotten to the point where teams aren’t even waiting for the season to start before they decide to tank. The Jets aren’t even waiting until training camp. This week, they got rid of veterans David Harris and Eric Decker after already purging Ryan Fitzpatrick, Nick Mangold, Nick Folk, Breno Giacomini, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Marshall from the roster earlier this year. Bryce Petty, Josh McCown and Christian Hackenberg are the three quarterbacks on their roster. It’s going to be a grim season.
[The Jets won’t stop until they are the youngest — and worst — team in the NFL]
Awaiting the Jets at the end of their trash rainbow: Southern California quarterback Sam Darnold, who has to play one more year of college and has been compared favorably to Luck and Tony Romo. And while they’ll never admit to tanking, the pieces are in place.
doesn't surprise me in the least that teams are starting to tank, any edge an organization can get to pick up future stars they'll do.
