Is it just me, or is the league getting a bit stale?

[RustyBourneHorse]

The style of play changed over the decades several times, similar to fad fashion and music.

It became more of a passing league with rules changes in the late 70s, and has its progressive moments, but nothing wildly impactful, until IMO….

-They wanted people that barely cared about football to have a fantasy team, so they needed more scoring.

-The league was sued over safety issues. The latest rule changes are all about creating the illusion that player safety is a priority.

The excessive flags are probably at least a good amount attributable to the shorter practice time….which is simply an extension of the player safety illusion, in order to justify continuing to add more games.

Throw in that Goodell is paid around 50m a year and has basically one job….grow the pot EVERY year. Expect to continue to get even more gimmicky than it is.

Well, exactly. The league is measuring their "success" by how much money they're making. That's why Jerry got into the Hall. It's not about making the product better. It's about catering to the sports books and fantasy football owners who, in turn, will watch the sport more. They're buying more views by selling away the quality that made football great.

I'm not saying it's a rigged product. What I'm saying is it seems manufactured to achieve the results that the sports books and fantasy football owners want. It's basically watered down football as opposed to the hard hitting Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis, Ryan Clark, Dexter Coakley, and DLaw defences we were used to.

Part of the reason I like Parsons and Overshown is because they try to be hard hitting like TJ. But it's rare compared to across the league.

 

[links18]

Is it just me, or is the league getting a bit stale? The overanalysis of whether to go for it or not. The over officiating to where you can barely go a drive without 3-4 penalties. The seemingly worse play on the field than years past. I get that players are getting bigger and faster, but the football intelligence seems to be reducing.

I'm just curious why it seems like the league just doesn't seem quite as good as it used to be? Is it just because the Cowboys aren't good this year that I'm noticing this? Either way, as far as I can tell, the NFL product this season seems worse than I can remember.

You are getting older and its just not as important anymore?

 

[goshann]

Well, exactly. The league is measuring their "success" by how much money they're making. That's why Jerry got into the Hall. It's not about making the product better. It's about catering to the sports books and fantasy football owners who, in turn, will watch the sport more. They're buying more views by selling away the quality that made football great.

I'm not saying it's a rigged product. What I'm saying is it seems manufactured to achieve the results that the sports books and fantasy football owners want. It's basically watered down football as opposed to the hard hitting Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis, Ryan Clark, Dexter Coakley, and DLaw defences we were used to.

Part of the reason I like Parsons and Overshown is because they try to be hard hitting like TJ. But it's rare compared to across the league.

For true, passionate football fans, the product was best in the 70s and 80s IMO. 90s it was still great but starting to fall off.

Less practice time and free agency are the primary reasons it has declined (yeah some rule changes as well).

But the changes have been intentional to drive more viewership and revenue and it has worked. The game is more pulopular now than ever. And I don’t see many changes the past ten years honestly.

I also agree with others that there are other personal factors such as getting older and your fav team being bad that are impacting your perception of the league.

 

[FVSTONE]

Is it just me, or is the league getting a bit stale? The overanalysis of whether to go for it or not. The over officiating to where you can barely go a drive without 3-4 penalties. The seemingly worse play on the field than years past. I get that players are getting bigger and faster, but the football intelligence seems to be reducing.

I'm just curious why it seems like the league just doesn't seem quite as good as it used to be? Is it just because the Cowboys aren't good this year that I'm noticing this? Either way, as far as I can tell, the NFL product this season seems worse than I can remember.

Are you serious????? If the Cowboys were leading the Eastern Div today you would be posting how great the league is and that the Cowboys were going to go all the way. Unfortunately, that's a pipe dream that you need to desperately wake up from because the Cowboys are now the bottom feeders, and the rest of league has blown by them. Yeah, the only stale club I see in the NFL are the lowly Cowboys with their STALE HC, STALE ASST COACHES, STALE PLAYERS AND STALE OWNERS!

 

[fivetwos]

Well, exactly. The league is measuring their "success" by how much money they're making. That's why Jerry got into the Hall. It's not about making the product better. It's about catering to the sports books and fantasy football owners who, in turn, will watch the sport more. They're buying more views by selling away the quality that made football great.

I'm not saying it's a rigged product. What I'm saying is it seems manufactured to achieve the results that the sports books and fantasy football owners want. It's basically watered down football as opposed to the hard hitting Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis, Ryan Clark, Dexter Coakley, and DLaw defences we were used to.

Part of the reason I like Parsons and Overshown is because they try to be hard hitting like TJ. But it's rare compared to across the league.

Everything trails back to money.

The player safety rule changes are about not getting sued while asking them to play more games and on Thursdays, etc.

So they practice less as part of the trade off, and the product is worse. It’s now common that starters don’t play at all in preseason games and the September games are as sloppy as can be.

I wonder at times how much further they are going to try to push things since they insist on growing the pie every year, and we know they do as the salary cap continues to rise. It’s a few notches beyond greed, but it’s not likely to stop until the fans protest with their wallets, and they’ve done the exact opposite.

 

[DandyDon52]

Because the NFL is led by the worst Commissioner in the history of the NFL. I don't agree with JJ on much, but I agree with him on this guy.

the owners of the teams, are the NFL lol, and they like what this guy does, which is help them make a lot of $$$$$$$$ !
The whole emphasis of the nfl now is not about football, but about the image, and entertainment, and marketing it.

 

[Vtwin]

The oversaturation sure hasn't helped.

Definitely gotten stale for me, for many of the reasons already mentioned.

10+ years ago I said the NFL was getting to big for it's britches and the focus had shifted to far towards max profitability over quality of the product. It's only gotten worse since then.

 

[DandyDon52]

Everything trails back to money.

The player safety rule changes are about not getting sued while asking them to play more games and on Thursdays, etc.

So they practice less as part of the trade off, and the product is worse. It’s now common that starters don’t play at all in preseason games and the September games are as sloppy as can be.

I wonder at times how much further they are going to try to push things since they insist on growing the pie every year, and we know they do as the salary cap continues to rise. It’s a few notches beyond greed, but it’s not likely to stop until the fans protest with their wallets, and they’ve done the exact opposite.

the nfl is now more like jerry, make $ and marketing and image is what they concentrate on.

 

[gtb1943]

Lol you have some fake news for me. not true at all. Most data points say the number of people watching overall is up and the percentage is at or above levels in the 80s/90s.
I'll post the numbers later or go do some Googling.

Here is an example data point: Superbowl ratings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_television_ratings

You really need better sources than Wiki dude

 

[DandyDon52]

Well, exactly. The league is measuring their "success" by how much money they're making. That's why Jerry got into the Hall. It's not about making the product better. It's about catering to the sports books and fantasy football owners who, in turn, will watch the sport more. They're buying more views by selling away the quality that made football great.

I'm not saying it's a rigged product. What I'm saying is it seems manufactured to achieve the results that the sports books and fantasy football owners want. It's basically watered down football as opposed to the hard hitting Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis, Ryan Clark, Dexter Coakley, and DLaw defences we were used to.

Part of the reason I like Parsons and Overshown is because they try to be hard hitting like TJ. But it's rare compared to across the league.

to some extent it is a rigged product.
Refs are not bad, they call the games the way they are told to.

The rule changes and points of emphasis are part of why the game is now stale. What is a catch? what is a football move? and the list goes on.
the lineman downfield emphasis this year is crazy and draws a lot of flags, but later in playoffs it will be used to affect the outcome of a game.

Right now it seems like half the teams are tanking! lol

 

[gtb1943]

The all time record for Monday Night Football viewers was set in 1990.

Back then, it averaged 35 million viewers

This year its at 18 million

 

[noshame]

Yeah, I hate the whole new kicking game garbage. Especially, you've got to notify people about an onside kick. Give me a break.

Secondly, what's the deal with the ineligible man downfield ? These linemen are 2 yd from the line of scrimmage, and they're calling them all of a sudden, what a crock.

 

[gtb1943]

Yeah, I hate the whole new kicking game garbage. Especially, you've got to notify people about an onside kick. Give me a break.

Secondly, what's the deal with the ineligible man downfield ? These linemen are 2 yd from the line of scrimmage, and they're calling them all of a sudden, what a crock.

The rules committee is drunk with power and has a bunch of idiots on it

 

[Whyjerry]

The streaming annoys me. I like the international games, but they better drop the bs about them doing it to get international teams. It's ridiculous.

You can’t have west coast teams playing in London. It doesn’t work.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

For true, passionate football fans, the product was best in the 70s and 80s IMO. 90s it was still great but starting to fall off.

Less practice time and free agency are the primary reasons it has declined (yeah some rule changes as well).

But the changes have been intentional to drive more viewership and revenue and it has worked. The game is more pulopular now than ever. And I don’t see many changes the past ten years honestly.

I also agree with others that there are other personal factors such as getting older and your fav team being bad that are impacting your perception of the league.

Being born in 92, I obviously didn't see the 70s or 80s football (started around 1999/2000), but it's not as good now as what I remember from say 2003 - 2014.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Are you serious????? If the Cowboys were leading the Eastern Div today you would be posting how great the league is and that the Cowboys were going to go all the way. Unfortunately, that's a pipe dream that you need to desperately wake up from because the Cowboys are now the bottom feeders, and the rest of league has blown by them. Yeah, the only stale club I see in the NFL are the lowly Cowboys with their STALE HC, STALE ASST COACHES, STALE PLAYERS AND STALE OWNERS!

I mean, probably the case too. I'm just trying to figure out why I feel bored all of a sudden with the sport ATM lol.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

The all time record for Monday Night Football viewers was set in 1990.

Back then, it averaged 35 million viewers

This year its at 18 million

I'd imagine that record is safe tonight lol

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

The rules committee is drunk with power and has a bunch of idiots on it

And they're ruining the game. And then, when people are too bored, throw in Taylor Swift.

 

[DCwarrior]

Crappy QB play, injuries all around the board, questionable officiating, gambling taking over, outrageous money for subpar performances. What’s not to like??

 

[FVSTONE]

I mean, probably the case too. I'm just trying to figure out why I feel bored all of a sudden with the sport ATM lol.

We're all in the boat now................