Column - Remember When the NFL Used to Be Fun to Watch?

[AtlantaDan]

Good column in The Ringer addressing the craptastic first 2 weeks of the 2017 season

How Football Stopped Being Fun

We are living in the golden age of failed completions, a statistic as grim as it sounds. Tracked by Football Outsiders, failed completions occur when a team doesn’t get 45 percent of the yards it needs on first down, 60 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third or fourth down. The stat goes back to 1989, and last season Joe Flacco set the record with 144....

The NFL has a sickness in which nearly everyone on the field and on the sideline has become conservative to a fault. There’s been a dramatic rise in completion percentage since 2000—Sam Bradford broke the NFL’s record last season—but yards per catch has gone down over that same span. ...

The product is diluted, and fans are tuning in and then tuning out. If that doesn’t scare the league, then nothing will. ...

“The great quarterbacks—[Aaron] Rodgers, [Tom] Brady, Big Ben [Roethlisberger]—they are looking for the daggers, the 25-yard throws,” [Chris] Simms said. He thinks most coaches want to default to less adventurous plays—and that any excitement you do see is when the individual talent of some of the quarterbacks wins out. “Look at Aaron Rodgers, throwing a 40-yard missile after a backflip, into a keyhole.” ...

The NFL isn’t dying: 46 million people watched last year’s NFC title game and well over 100 million watch the Super Bowl. But whether or not they’re beautiful, sports are supposed to be fun. Two weeks into the football season, not many people are having a good time

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9...uality-of-play

[polamalubeast]

This is one of the reasons I hate the dink and dunk offense.

I may be the only one who loves when Roethlisberger throw deep often!

[Crow-Magnon]

What? No more Moonball Joe?

I told several friends that Joe has that monniker here. They all laughed. I have to admit it's funny.

[BostonBlackie]

Good column in The Ringer addressing the craptastic first 2 weeks of the 2017 season

How Football Stopped Being Fun

We are living in the golden age of failed completions, a statistic as grim as it sounds. Tracked by Football Outsiders, failed completions occur when a team doesn’t get 45 percent of the yards it needs on first down, 60 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third or fourth down. The stat goes back to 1989, and last season Joe Flacco set the record with 144....

The NFL has a sickness in which nearly everyone on the field and on the sideline has become conservative to a fault. There’s been a dramatic rise in completion percentage since 2000—Sam Bradford broke the NFL’s record last season—but yards per catch has gone down over that same span. ...

The product is diluted, and fans are tuning in and then tuning out. If that doesn’t scare the league, then nothing will. ...

“The great quarterbacks—[Aaron] Rodgers, [Tom] Brady, Big Ben [Roethlisberger]—they are looking for the daggers, the 25-yard throws,” [Chris] Simms said. He thinks most coaches want to default to less adventurous plays—and that any excitement you do see is when the individual talent of some of the quarterbacks wins out. “Look at Aaron Rodgers, throwing a 40-yard missile after a backflip, into a keyhole.” ...

The NFL isn’t dying: 46 million people watched last year’s NFC title game and well over 100 million watch the Super Bowl. But whether or not they’re beautiful, sports are supposed to be fun. Two weeks into the football season, not many people are having a good time

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9...uality-of-play

I know, I'm a homer, but Sunday's Patriots/Saints game was a lot of fun to watch. For us anyway. The Patriots took their banged up offense, turned the clock back 15-20 years, and did a dance on the Saints. Tony Romo couldn't contain himself.

And yes, I know, the Saints have no defense. Still a fun game to watch.

[DesertSteel]

The sky is falling....

[tube517]

I know, I'm a homer, but Sunday's Patriots/Saints game was a lot of fun to watch. For us anyway. The Patriots took their banged up offense, turned the clock back 15-20 years, and did a dance on the Saints. Tony Romo couldn't contain himself.

And yes, I know, the Saints have no defense. Still a fun game to watch.

Understandable since you are a fan of one of the teams.

But, do you watch other NFL games/teams religiously like you may have in the 70s/80s??

I don't. And it's sad since I would watch Sundays religiously (Steelers weren't on every week and we didn't have DirecTV or internet back in the day) as well as MNF.

[Born2Steel]

With so many streaming options and OTHER THINGS to do, football super fandom is dwindling. Of course it is. I see people my kids' age, 14-22, that simply don't watch sports on tv, ever. They don't have the attention span for it. They don't even listen to an entire song, that they paid for and downloaded. Inferior product may be partly to blame for drop in ratings, but mostly people just don't care that much any more. Think about it. How often do you see neighborhood games going on nowadays? It's just a new era.

[AtlantaDan]

The sky is falling....

Well, the ratings are - this from the linked article

Ratings dipped again on Sunday. Sunday Night Football’s Packers-Falcons game was down 8 percent from last season and 23 percent from 2015. The curious thing about these dips is that the number of people viewing games is not down, but the amount of time they’re watching for is. Unless “only watching part of a game” is a new form of political boycott, that reasoning for the ratings drop doesn’t hold much water. (Yes, we have a year’s worth of data noting that people say they are tuning out because of boycotts. But we have roughly 200,000 years of data suggesting that what people say and what they do are often two entirely different things.)

Since TV rights pay the bills that is much worse than the sky falling for the NFL

Then again the NFL may long for the days when lower ratings and boring games were the problem rather than parents prohibiting their sons from playing the game as it withered away from the ground up

Athletes who began playing tackle football before the age of 12 had more behavioral and cognitive problems later in life than those who started playing after they turned 12, a new study released on Tuesday showed.

The findings, from a long-term study conducted by researchers at Boston University, are likely to add to the debate over when, or even if, children should be allowed to begin playing tackle football.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/s...=top-news&_r=0

[tube517]

Well, the ratings are - this from the linked article

Ratings dipped again on Sunday. Sunday Night Football’s Packers-Falcons game was down 8 percent from last season and 23 percent from 2015. The curious thing about these dips is that the number of people viewing games is not down, but the amount of time they’re watching for is. Unless “only watching part of a game” is a new form of political boycott, that reasoning for the ratings drop doesn’t hold much water. (Yes, we have a year’s worth of data noting that people say they are tuning out because of boycotts. But we have roughly 200,000 years of data suggesting that what people say and what they do are often two entirely different things.)

Since TV rights pay the bills that is much worse than the sky falling for the NFL

Fantasy Football effect? Let me see some stats on my players on my team then I'm going to bed. Not interested in the game itself. I hear this all the time. (I don't play anymore)


Can't have Steelers-Cowboys every week. As much as I hate them, they bring the ratings and we all know how Steeler Nation is:

http://deadline.com/2016/11/dallas-c...ox-1201854982/

[BostonBlackie]

But, do you watch other NFL games/teams religiously like you may have in the 70s/80s??

No, probably not.

[DesertSteel]

Well, the ratings are - this from the linked article

Ratings dipped again on Sunday. Sunday Night Football’s Packers-Falcons game was down 8 percent from last season and 23 percent from 2015. The curious thing about these dips is that the number of people viewing games is not down, but the amount of time they’re watching for is. Unless “only watching part of a game” is a new form of political boycott, that reasoning for the ratings drop doesn’t hold much water. (Yes, we have a year’s worth of data noting that people say they are tuning out because of boycotts. But we have roughly 200,000 years of data suggesting that what people say and what they do are often two entirely different things.)

Since TV rights pay the bills that is much worse than the sky falling for the NFL

Then again the NFL may long for the days when lower ratings and boring games were the problem rather than parents prohibiting their sons from playing the game as it withered away from the ground up

Athletes who began playing tackle football before the age of 12 had more behavioral and cognitive problems later in life than those who started playing after they turned 12, a new study released on Tuesday showed.

The findings, from a long-term study conducted by researchers at Boston University, are likely to add to the debate over when, or even if, children should be allowed to begin playing tackle football.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/s...=top-news&_r=0

Maybe they can all take a cut in pay then. I enjoyed football a lot when they were all making $200,000.

[BurghBoy412]

I just wish they would let the guys hit one another without throwing a pussy ass flag all the time. The defenseless receiver penalty is my favorite. You can't even make a guy afraid to come across the middle anymore. I remember when guys like Ronnie Lott made fools think twice about reaching out for a pass. It's really handcuffed the Safety position. If you've ever played football then you know how much fear plays a role in the game. Nowadays just about any pansy ass OBJ can play ball. Let these guys hit dammit!

[BostonBlackie]

I just wish they would let the guys hit one another without throwing a pussy ass flag all the time. The defenseless receiver penalty is my favorite. You can't even make a guy afraid to come across the middle anymore. I remember when guys like Ronnie Lott made fools think twice about reaching out for a pass. It's really handcuffed the Safety position. If you've ever played football then you know how much fear plays a role in the game. Nowadays just about any pansy ass OBJ can play ball. Let these guys hit dammit!

Yes fear, and intimidation are part of the game. I remember going over the middle, just in high school, and I wasn't a small receiver at 6'1" 190. But the NFL has to cover their ass now. It's a different world.

[BurghBoy412]

Yes fear, and intimidation are part of the game. I remember going over the middle, just in high school, and I wasn't a small receiver at 6'1" 190. But the NFL has to cover their ass now. It's a different world.

That's what I'm talking about! Don't Come In Here!

[BurghBoy412]

[BostonBlackie]