FS1’s Chris Broussard was right there for the evolution of “load management” in the NBA, which began as a clever competitive edge and eventually swallowed up the league. And he is starting to worry the NFL is headed down the same path.
Discussing MVP front-runner Josh Allen resting in Week 18 of the season alongside many other top players on Friday’s First Things First, Broussard laid out how the NFL is headed down a “slippery slope” and could end up with a load management problem of its own if the culture of the leagues shifts.
“This is the slippery slope, and I don’t think it will get to this point with the NFL, but this is a cousin of sitting out the last game of the season. Why do we even have 17 games if once you lock something up, you’re just going to sit out?” Broussard said. “It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s not competitive.”
“Why do we even have 17 games if once you lock something up, you’re just going to sit out? … it’s not fair, it’s not right, it’s not competitive.”
FS1’s Chris Broussard compares NFL teams resting players late in the season to NBA load management: pic.twitter.com/oFHX4LfIQf
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In addition to Buffalo, the Chiefs, Eagles, Rams and potentially Chargers will sit their top players in Week 18 with their playoff seeds locked up. This has been true for years in the NFL, but it could be ramping up with an additional game (and another soon) being added to the NFL schedule.
Broussard, who covered the NBA for the New York Times and ESPN most of his career, believes the NFL is starting to think like the NBA when it comes to rest.
“This is how it started in the NBA,” Broussard said.
“Because there used to be a time when I covered the league where you played 82 games. You won 65 games, you still played 82, and you just played the playoffs. Then it got to (with) teams, ‘we wrapped it up, we’re sitting out the last week of the season to rest.’ Then it got to, we’ll rest a little during the season against bad teams or back-to-backs. And now it’s just run amok, and you’ve got this big load management problem. I’m not saying it will get that way in the NFL, but … this is where it can get to.”
It may seem like an apples-to-oranges comparison because teams typically rest in one game in the NFL compared with many more in the NBA. But Broussard pointed out how one team’s postseason fate will be affected by the resting teams in Week 18. Cincinnati is technically alive, but needs the B-team Chiefs to upset Denver to get in.
Of course, Philadelphia resting Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will also result in him falling short of the NFL record for single-season rushing yards.
As Broussard pointed out, the NFL is unlikely to be overrun by stars resting like the NBA. Each game matters too much, and the athletes are hardwired to compete like mad.
However, it is something to watch as the schedule expands and teams look for small advantages.
