Mike Freeman's 10-Point Stance: 3 Reasons the NFL Is Such a Mess This Year

[polamalubeast]

1. Is quality of NFL play worse than ever?

This was said by Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer on ESPN this week: "The football has never been worse in the National Football League. The quality of product is horrific."

People like to hate Dilfer, but the truth is, he says some interesting things. And smart things. Like all of us, sometimes he's wrong and sometimes he's right. On this topic, I think he's right. It's a sentiment I've also heard expressed repeatedly by assistant coaches all season. I heard it again when I ran it by some coaches after Dilfer said it.

Many people across the league agree with what Dilfer said. Many, many people. The NFL is a mess.

Now, of course, this is all subjective. What exactly does "football has never been worse" mean? How do you qualify it? How do you even compare the quality of play to 2000, much less 1980 or 1950?

Again, all subjective, but here are three big reasons various assistant coaches told me Dilfer might be right:


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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...mess-this-year

[Edman]

NFL Officiating is terrible and will continue to be terrible because at the end of the day, they are humans watching things move at 100mph an hour with eyes like you and me strapped down trying to abide by asinine, arbitrary, and contradictory rules made by those in charge who have never played the damn game of gained an crucial understanding of how football works.

It may look slow on TV, but take all the fancy effects and glitz and glamour out of it, and the sport is essentially big-bodied men running full-speed at each other. Football at it's core is not a pretty sport.

Too many business suits, but not enough football people running the league. Roger Dodger isn't the only one.

[NCSteeler]

NFL Officiating is terrible and will continue to be terrible because at the end of the day, they are humans watching things move at 100mph an hour with eyes like you and me strapped down trying to abide by asinine, arbitrary, and contradictory rules made by those in charge who have never played the damn game of gained an crucial understanding of how football works.

It may look slow on TV, but take all the fancy effects and glitz and glamour out of it, and the sport is essentially big-bodied men running full-speed at each other. Football at it's core is not a pretty sport.

Too many business suits, but not enough football people running the league. Roger Dodger isn't the only one.

There have been multiple instances this season of the play being called wrong AFTER instant replay. That's the worst, there is no excuse for screwing the pooch under the hood in SLO MO

[NCSteeler]

The running back factor: The position was supposed to be dead, and now we're seeing how important it is. One of the reasons the Packers, for example, are struggling is they can't control the tempo of the game, and one of the reasons the Vikings are one of the great surprises of the league is because they can.

I said this 2 years ago. When the LBers get smaller and faster the RB will make a come back. You must be able to run the ball to win.

[tube517]

Unwatchable. I was at work and we were watching red zone all afternoon. I don't normally watch other teams games at home but one of our coworkers is Gung ho sports and has red zone. Wow does the caliber of play suck.

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[zulater]

I think the officials have been sub par this year. Obviously play isn't at it's highest level. For that I blame the latest CBA which limits padded practices among other things. But at the end of the day I still love the NFL game. Even when the Steelers aren't playing I enjoy nothing more than a Sunday of football.

I think way too often we tend to be negative about everything. My experience is there were no good old days. Every era had pluses and minuses. For instance I laugh when I see someone claim qb play is at an all time low. Go back to 1970 for example. Here's some of your starting qb's. Virgil Carter Bengals, Jack Concannon Bears, Norm Snead Eagles, Dennis Shaw Bills, Bob Berry Falcons, Gary Cuozzo Vikings, Pete Liske Broncos, Al Woodall Jets (Namath injured for the majority of the season)

You name the year I can find plenty of crappy qb's who played at the time. Same with starting rb's , wr's, or any other position you name. People just like to bitch. Everything sucks blah blah blah.

Bottom line, nothing is perfect, but nothing ever was. It's still a damn good game.