I’m being dead serious. Whoever loses this game will significantly improve their chances of landing a top 2 draft pick. Currently the draft order is:

1. Bears (via Carolina)

2. Giants

3. Pats

4. Cardinals

5. Bears

Arizona already looks like they might play themselves out of the top 5. Murray looked too good to assume they aren’t going to win a few games down the stretch, as they have 3 or 4 very winnable games remaining on their schedule. Chicago is already picking 5 and their last 3 games are Cardinals, Falcons, Packers. Hard to imagine they don’t win at least 1 more game with Feilds coming back. Carolina I don’t expect to move from the 1 spot, but it’s certainly possible they sneak out another win.

Patriots on the other hand really don’t have many games that look like a potential wins after the Giants (Chargers, Steelers, KC, Broncos, Bills, and the Jets with a potentially returning Rodgers). Giants have a slightly easier schedule (Washington, GB, NO, Rams, and Philly twice) but are on their 3rd string QB so my hopes aren’t high they win any games.

There is a very real chance that neither the Giants nor the Pats win another game after their head to head match up, making this game ridiculously impactful for both franchises. Obviously it’s impossible to know how picks will work out, but a top 2 pick means a quarterback will on the menu for whichever team is picking there. The 3rd pick? No so much, unless someone like Penix or Daniels (who I LOVE) shoots up the draft board unexpectedly.

Much more likely that the team at 3 will be looking at Harrison Jr. or one the top two tackles. Both teams could absolutely use Harrison Jr or a potentially elite tackle… but both desperately need to upgrade at QB. This game could be the difference between having a potential franchise QB for the next decade or remaining somewhat barren at the position.

Side note: while unpopular, I personally think Chicago should strongly consider doing the exact same thing they did last year if they do wind up #1 overall. Move down to somewhere like 3-5, get yourself another absolute haul of picks/players, and continue to build around Fields. Imagine if Chicago moved down to 3 or 4, were still able to snag Harrison Jr. AND one of the top 2 tackles at 5-6? Suddenly they have two stud tackles, Harrison Jr., DJ Moore, AND another year of multiple top 50 picks in 2025. Potentially could find themselves loaded with cheap, young talent with more or less zero major needs remaining on the offensive side of the ball.