Based on what?

Based on the fact that Chris Jones is a top-10 NFL player and a single pressure up the middle on 3rd down may have gotten us off the field without giving up as many points.

The defense played great. But he’s still much more of a true playmaker than anyone we have on that side of the ball. And one splash play on one drive could’ve easily been the difference.

That defense was playing salty even without Jones and Omenihu. Add those two into the fold and this is easily a Championship caliber squad even if the offense has some hiccups.

Ya and a monkey may jump out yo ass.

There's no way to say if this, then that. No use in speculation. The point is, our receivers didn't catch balls, which stopped drives. That's fact.

Defense gave up 14 points. Jones was not missed during this game.

This loss was 100% on the offense.

Two things can be true:

This loss is 100% on the offense. (Does anyone remotely disagree with this?)

We would’ve won the game if Chris Jones had played.

Yeah - the Lions game demonstrated pretty loudly who the 2nd most important guy on the team is and who's a very distant 3rd.

Yet I suspect his agents will care quite a bit about the fact that TEs get paid less than DTs on the market. Funny that they seem less concerned about that fact when it's DEs instead of DTs...

The 'big 3' sure seemed a hell of a lot more like a Big 2 last Thursday...

We would've won this game had Omenihu played or had we had an extra $20 million to spend this off-season on...anyone.

It's not the lack of Chris Jones that hurt us. It's the goddamn bullshit hostage taking being attempted by his hack-ass agents that hurt us.

Which is why this "don't make it personal" stuff rings incredibly hollow to me. Make it personal at this point - this wasn't an amicable negotiation. Seems as though 'personal' is EXACTLY how this should be handled now.

That's the worst thing about Jones' holdout. He is already making $6 million more per year than Kelce. Travis should be the one holding out for $30M per year. He's every bit as valuable as the likes of Tyreek or other elite receivers.

I have no personal issue with ****ing over Chris Jones as much as possible and think he deserves it.

But going full scorched earth can have ramifications for how the organization is viewed by the fans, the media, agents, etc. You might disagree with how it ends up being portrayed, but perception is reality and I don’t think it’s worth potentially cutting off your nose to spite your face to prove a point. Jones already seems to be doing enough of that himself and it’s not working out so good.

(I’ll grant that there could be some positive externalities like agents will know not to stare the organization down, but I think we’ve probably already established that given how we’ve stuck to our guns without needing to go all Wyatt Earp against the Cowboys on Jones.)

Jones obviously doesn't really want to play football, or he would be.

I have no doubt that after he signs his next contract, no matter what team, he will go back to being the guy who vanishes for significant chunks of a season.

did this dumb bitch decide to stop losing money and sign yet

We win the game if our WRs catch the ball. Trav and Chris are great, but neither were needed for a W on Thursday.

I think you nailed it. Mike Evans is playing for his team despite contract negotiation problems with the Tampa front office. He said he didn't want to let down his teammates. He's handling it the right way.

Yup. We win that game if Toney slips and falls 2 seconds before the interception.