CFZ Is football getting worse?

[Captain-Crash]

when this crap is all you have to compare it to, then you don't see any difference.

"get the f off my lawn"

 

[cmoney23]

I think, on the macro, football is getting worse.

I think it's compounded by the fact that we are living in a golden age of QB play. Never before has the NFL had this level of QB play across the league. But, offensive line play is dramatically declining, which is a systematic issue. High school and college football has changed to the point where they aren't producing linemen that can pass pro traditionally very well. The zone read/ RPO systems don't make great professional linemen.

I would also add that the recent influx of young, inexperienced OCs becoming HC well before they are prepared is hurting the quality of play dramatically.

 

[shabazz]

Now, people with their 4k TVs see a holding penalty was called due to hands wedged under the left armpit instead of on the arm itself, and act like the Atlantic sea wall is collapsing.

Theres enough obvious holding that merits a flag. If it’s questionable like the one you just mentioned, they need to keep the damn flag in their pocket. It can’t be undone and can influence outcomes.

Retired, Ed Hochulis weekly habit of inserting himself and his crews into being active participants in the contest rather than moderators showed the new trend that we see today.

Kind of like other moderators that we’ve seen in the last decade…..

 

[shabazz]

Answer. Resoundingly YES it’s getting worse and a huge part of it has been Roger Goodell…

….I would add the corporate sponsors and their board members that push their agendas into the league.

 

[terra]

Absolutely not, the worst team in the NFL today would rout the 1989 San Francisco 49ers. The quality and size of the athletes, the quality of their diets/training/workouts, the quality of the coaching, the sophistication of offensive football, the kicking game, everything is just so much more refined. The rules have also changed substantially in the last 50 years which has opened up the game and allowed for more athletes to make more plays in space.

The fact is 13-10 slogfests where neither team could pass well were just much more common in prior eras so they didn’t stand out as “bad” football. The reason you notice them now is precisely because how much better and wide open the game is today.

Talk about missing the forests for the trees. absolutely has nothing to do with the physical qualities of the athletes but not surprised that is all you can see.

 

[MarcusRock]

Recency bias, "it was better in my day," yadda, yadda, yadda. People will complain, then watch anyway, then still complain. This is a cycle that will forever exist.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Theres enough obvious holding that merits a flag. If it’s questionable like the one you just mentioned, they need to keep the damn flag in their pocket.

Perhaps, but if that team then loses, you’ll be sure fans will point directly to that play and speak about how the league has decided to conspire against them. And then as that kind of talk builds in the underworld of the intraweb, less-inclined fans will begin to feel the general discourse toward refereeing and have the mob mentality that it’s all gone to poop.

Rewind to 1989 without HD cameras at every angle and message boards to spread the negativity, and there wouldn’t even be a replay for the missed flag and none are the wiser. It’s the yin and Yang of advancing technology. Ignorance can be bliss

 

[csirl]

The rules have changed so much that I think todays teams would lose to any 1980s team playing 80s rules. Likewise any 80d team would lose to any of todays teams playing todays rules.

 

[MyFairLady]

The average player in the 1980s was probably the first time in NFL history that the average player didn't have to have a real job outside of football. The average player today can afford a trainer, a nutritionist, a personal assistant. Football is actually their job. Or at least it should be. I would say that is the biggest ear adjustment you would need to make.

 

[StarOfGlory]

Absolutely not, the worst team in the NFL today would rout the 1989 San Francisco 49ers. The quality and size of the athletes, the quality of their diets/training/workouts, the quality of the coaching, the sophistication of offensive football, the kicking game, everything is just so much more refined. The rules have also changed substantially in the last 50 years which has opened up the game and allowed for more athletes to make more plays in space.

The fact is 13-10 slogfests where neither team could pass well were just much more common in prior eras so they didn’t stand out as “bad” football. The reason you notice them now is precisely because how much better and wide open the game is today.

This explanation really doesn't hold up 100%. The only truly drastic changes in size is on the offensive line and to some degree QB. The Cowboys O-line from the 90's would still be dominant. The Eagles defensive front from the Buddy Ryan era would still kick ***. Are today's receivers really better than Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, and Terrell Owens? No, they're not. Are there better cover corners today than Deion, Eric Allen, and Darrell Green? I don't think so.

I do agree about the sophistication of offensive AND defensive football, as well as the *******ization of the rules. This is what has changed football more than anything.

 

[MWH1967]

Recency bias, "it was better in my day," yadda, yadda, yadda. People will complain, then watch anyway, then still complain. This is a cycle that will forever exist.

Oh, i'm gonna watch. it's just watered down.

 

[Praxit]

..that's what happens when you spend much time on those tech devices.

Brain turns into mush. It's like feeding potatoes to a couch potato.

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

It feels overly officiated with poor officiating

I 1000% agree with this. The NFL needs to figure out how to strike a balance between clean play and letting players decide games rather than officials. In the NFL a few calls can dramatically influence the outcome of the game. It isn't like the NBA where a bad call just costs you two points in the form of free throws. In the NFL a bad call can completely change the complexion of the game (especially long PI calls and roughing the passer).

The quality of athletes is world class as it has always been. I think that the deterioration of line play is mostly the result of the fact that pass blocking is significantly more difficult than run blocking. In today's game there are a lot more opportunities for linemen to get visibly beat so it results in them looking less competent than those that came before. If the NFL reverted back to a 60-40 run/pass split I guarantee line play would appear to improve.

 

[KJJ]

I think the reason for some of the lack of scoring could be the lack of practice time leading up to the season. Training camps aren’t like they used to be with two a days. It’s at least four days into training camp before teams are allowed to put on pads. The first few days of camp are pretty much lwalk-throughs. Teams have days off during training camp. Most teams starters hardly play at all during preseason. Plus preseason has been reduced to three games. It’s all about player safety these days.

 

[blueblood70]

Jim Burt and Michael Carter were their NTs at 260 and 285 lbs respectively.

Pull up the weights of their linemen on both sides of the ball -- pretty eye opening.

edit -- sorry this was talked about earlier in the thread

so? these arguments are moot, whose rules are we playing with? those Wrs and QBS got killed back in the 80s/90s.cooper kupp wouldn't survive 3 games these alleged slot guys are HS sized compared to the 80s/90s defenses would tear their bodys apart. that had to deal with targeting and allowed a lot of hand fighting and contact on the backend. qbs were real payers and not protected could be hit anywhere as hard as they wanted unless sit was clear facemask or head shot they got killed.

Moot to make this argument, play by the old rules its not a contest no way the bottom dweller teams can make it past the 1st half , however with the new rules the older style teams could play make it a contest,

 

[Aftershock]

The quality of everything is going down. Society in totality is becoming more dumb. Music, sports, art - everything is becoming more dumb.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Absolutely not, the worst team in the NFL today would rout the 1989 San Francisco 49ers. The quality and size of the athletes, the quality of their diets/training/workouts, the quality of the coaching, the sophistication of offensive football, the kicking game, everything is just so much more refined. The rules have also changed substantially in the last 50 years which has opened up the game and allowed for more athletes to make more plays in space.

The fact is 13-10 slogfests where neither team could pass well were just much more common in prior eras so they didn’t stand out as “bad” football. The reason you notice them now is precisely because how much better and wide open the game is today.

None of what you mentioned necessarily makes the “game” better. I loved the NFL from the 70’s through the 90’s MUCH more than today. Today’s game is watered down and fantasy football driven. It’s no where near as good as it was.

 

[kskboys]

Goodell does what the owners want which is to make more money. As long as the sport continues to make more money they don't care what the product looks like.

How do people continuously fall for the guy the owners placed there just to take the heat? I mean, you guys must get fooled by trannies all the time.

 

[CWR]

If you grew up watching football in 80's there was a lot of these types of games...defensive battles (snooze fest)
Denver D-line was impressive.

To your point... after watching last night's game something seems very wrong with Matt Ryan and Russel Wilson, that was ugly.
Even when they didn't have pressure the throws and timing were terrible, hard to watch

People were clamoring for Russ on this board, but the truth is he wasn't great last year. Some of that may have been because he suffered from the same injury Dak has and came back too early. Now it looks like he may be on the decline.

Although Russ has always kind of turned it on at points in the season.

I think Ryan must he done, not sure about Russ.

 

[kskboys]

The quality of everything is going down. Society in totality is becoming more dumb. Music, sports, art - everything is becoming more dumb.

They are currently doing studies on the extreme negative effects of social media on people. Especially tictoc. The development of our children is being hindered in a massive way. Sick stuff.