What we witnessed in Week 14 is the key ingredient to effectively tanking.
See, people don't like it when it's obvious that a team isn't playing its best ball to advance itself in the draft. That's tired.
Here's the wired view instead: Be competitive, pull off an unforeseeable upset, but don't hurt the draft position in the process. That's what the New England Patriots, Chicago Bears and New York Jets did against their respective opponents.
With Bailey Zappe looking like a second coming of Tom Brady — this is absolutely a joke — the Patriots went into the Pittsburgh, built a 21-3 lead in the second quarter, and quelled Pittsburgh's comeback attempt in the final minute to win 21-18. All while maintaining the Patriots' spot as the No. 2 pick.
Then there was the Jets, who went back to Zach Wilson and beat the brakes off the Houston Texans. After an unenviable week for the third-year quarterback, head coach Robert Saleh said Wilson played "probably the best game of his career" in the Jets 30-6 win.
And then there was the Chicago Bears, who can afford to win a few games here and there because it owns the Carolina Panthers' first-round pick. After almost beating the Detroit Lions on the road, the Bears took down the division leader in a 28-13 win at Soldier Field.
Each of these three teams defeated opponents that were either definitively in the playoffs or very much in the playoff hunt. The Bears maintained their No. 5 pick, while the Jets took a small step back from sixth to seventh in the draft order. Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals and Washington Commanders, both of which had byes, got to enjoy watching the madness and staying set at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
The Chargers could move deeper into the top 10
Quarterback Justin Herbert won't play again this season after fracturing the index finger on his right, throwing hand. On Tuesday morning, it was announced that Herbert is having season-ending finger surgery.
The Los Angeles Chargers now turn to Easton Stick as its top signal caller.
This was already a tremendous fall from grace for a Chargers team that was just in the playoffs last season. Losing Herbert, who was already playing through a fracture on his left, middle finger, just adds insult to injury.
Los Angeles was losing with Herbert playing, thanks to a defense that couldn't stop anybody, and it's coming up on a brutal stretch to conclude the season. The Chargers will play the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos and Kanas City Chiefs.
The Chargers currently own the No. 10 pick and given its schedule could move further into the top of the draft by season's end.
Panthers welcome the Falcons to town
Bad news for the Carolina Panthers: The Panthers are about to play a Falcons team that just conceded the top spot in the NFC South thanks to a 29-25 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
The battle for the lowly NFC South crown is as crowded as one could imagine with the Bucs, Falcons and New Orleans Saints all sitting at 6-7. Both of the former teams are 3-1 in the NFC South, while the Saints are 2-2 in the division.
Outside of pride and creating momentum for next season, the Panthers have nothing to play for. As everyone knows, Carolina doesn't own its first-round pick, it was the first team eliminated from the playoffs last week, the coaching staff has already been reconfigured, and quarterback Bryce Young simply has not looked good.
Meanwhile, Atlanta can't afford to lose games down the stretch and has to handle business against a listless Carolina team.
The playoff-bound 49ers visit the Cardinals
Fresh off its bye week, the Arizona Cardinals get to welcome the only team to punch its postseason ticket so far. How much fun is that?
Probably about as much fun as playing three teams definitively in the playoff conversation. The San Francisco 49ers come into Phoenix on a five-game winning streak, including a blowout win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the previous top seed in the conference.
Arizona will then travel to Chicago to face the Bears, head to Philadelphia the following week and then close out the year with the Seattle Seahawks visiting.
This has all the makings of the Cardinals either maintaining their No. 3 spot, and maybe moving up one if the Patriots decide to win anymore games.
Who will pick No. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft?
Here is the current 2024 NFL Draft order entering Week 14.
Chicago Bears (from Carolina Panthers)
New England Patriots
Arizona Cardinals
Washington Commanders
Chicago Bears
Tennessee Titans
Los Angeles Chargers
Atlanta Falcons
New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks
Los Angeles Rams
Denver Broncos
Arizona Cardinals (from Houston Texans)
Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
Green Bay Packers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans (from Cleveland Browns)
Kansas City Chiefs
Jacksonville Jaguars
Detroit Lions
Philadelphia Eagles
Miami Dolphins
Dallas Cowboys
San Francisco 49ers
Baltimore Ravens
Who will be taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft?
Looking ahead at the Panthers remaining games, they play the Falcons, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Buccaneers to finish off this season. If one of you can find a game that Carolina has a reasonable chance of winning, then I'll wait.
The Bears, meanwhile, continue to celebrate the Panthers shortfalls, as it only further entrenches their likelihood of earning the top pick in the draft.
A small conundrum has popped up, though — depending on how one views it. Quarterback Justin Fields has played exceptionally since returning to the lineup and has helped lead the Bears to wins over the NFC-North leading Lions and Minnesota Vikings. Chicago has either won or been in each of the last three games it has played with him under center.
During that stretch, Fields has thrown for 609 yards and two scores on 62-of-93 passing and rushed 42 times for 221 yards and a touchdown. While he hasn't thrown an interception over that stretch, he did lose two fumbles against the Vikings.
So while the answer was easy if the New England Patriots earned the No. 1 pick, the picture is much less clear for Chicago, and especially with Fields making plays, and noise, down the stretch. Given the way, he's currently playing, the most practical thing to do would be to add a receiver like Marvin Harrison Jr. to pair opposite of star D.J. Moore, though our own Nate Tice believes the Bears will select quarterback Drake Maye if they keep the pick. Fields — or Maye — already has a reliable tight end in Cole Kmet, and the running game has options with a healthy Khalil Herbert
