Expert Analysis
12/29/23
4 min read
NFL Games Are Never Meaningless — Even for Teams Eliminated from Playoffs
There’s no such thing as “meaningless” games in the NFL.
That’s why you seldom hear anybody who coached or played in the league utter that phrase during the season's final few weeks — they know better.
It is also why you should pay little to no attention to media members, betting “experts” or fans who talk about that, either. Frankly, they have no idea what they are talking about.
What they mean, and should say, is that a particular game has no “playoff implications” for one or both teams. That’s factual and real. “Meaningless” is not.
Doing Everything to Win
If these games had no meaning, why would coaches such as the Washington Commanders' Ron Rivera or the New York Giants' Brian Daboll bench their young quarterbacks (Sam Howell and Tommy DeVito) in favor of veteran signal callers (Jacoby Brissett and Tyrod Taylor)?
They wouldn’t.
Even though I disagree with the decisions, it is hard to fault a coach for doing what he believes gives the men in that locker room the best opportunity to win.
Howell can use all the reps he can get. Also, the Commanders should want as much clarity as possible before entering an offseason that will involve a lot of change.
The Giants should want to give DeVito every opportunity to prove he can be an inexpensive backup for the next few years.
Rivera and Daboll don’t care. They want to win, and as a former player, I respect that.
Even for other teams officially or virtually eliminated from the playoff race, these games are plenty meaningful. How do I know? Because I have been there too many times.
Playing, Coaching for Your Job
During my first three years in the NFL, my coach was fired at the end of the season. In Years 2 (Dallas, 2002) and 3 (Buffalo, 2003), I was starting at the end of the season while the coaching speculation was running rampant outside the building.
I can’t speak for everyone in those locker rooms, but because I had been through that with Washington in 2001, I was keenly aware a new coach and/or front office meant changes — and lots of them.
If anything, that made those games more meaningful. I knew I needed to play well enough that the new decision-makers wanted me on their team even though I wasn’t one of “their” guys.
If they moved on from me regardless, it was even more imperative I put out some good tape so another team would pick me up.
Most guys get that. Some guys don’t. I still remember several Dallas Cowboys’ players skipping curfew the night before our last game in Washington during the 2002 season.
Most people realize coaches reported to be on the hot seat — Matt Eberflus in Chicago or Arthur Smith in Atlanta, who coincidentally play against each other Sunday — are coaching for their jobs. The team’s performance strongly indicates how those players feel about their coach.
Even in situations where the coach was already fired, such as with the Los Angeles Chargers or Carolina Panthers, players with any awareness of how the league works prepare to the best of their ability. They’ll play their hearts out in these games for the reasons I mentioned earlier.
Most of the time, when people use the term “meaningless,” they are doing it within the context of why one team has an edge over the other because of playoff implications. Anyone who follows the NFL knows there are multiple examples of teams “just playing out the string” knocking off a team with “everything on the line” every year.
Part of that is because the underdog, with little to no expectations, can play loose and free. However, the team with all the pressure can start feeling that, especially if the game is close.
So the next time you hear someone say a game is meaningless, feel free to correct them. You know better from a guy who has been there and done that multiple times.
