The NFL is losing its mojo

[links18]

Fantasy football ruins the fan experience. Its all about rooting for the name on the back of the jersey. Game broadcast scrolls twenty minutes of meaningless stats before actually telling us who won the other games. Screw FF.

 

[mattjames2010]

Fantasy football ruins the fan experience. Its all about rooting for the name on the back of the jersey. Game broadcast scrolls twenty minutes of meaningless stats before actually telling us who won the other games. Screw FF.

The have the game scores at the bottom of the screen nearly non-stop. What do you need? Neon lights flashing you the scores?

 

[LucaBrasi]

The product is as bad as I remember. Watched it for 35 years, have had Sunday Ticket for the last 16. The CBA and the lack of practice time is the biggest culprit. But the last couple of seasons have been terrible to watch, not good football.

 

[csirl]

The practice restrictions are a big part of the problem. The "product " is a lot less polished and injuries are more common due to lack of conditioning.

The other problem is that players no longer compete for jobs in training camp. 30 years ago, only a handful of players went into camp sure of a roster spot. For everyone else it was dog eat dog and only the best survived. Aside from maybe 3-4 spots rosters are largely predetermined now days.

One think impacting on QB play is the emphasis on the starting QB. In past eras backup QBs got a lot more practice reps. They also played a lot more. QBs were frequently pulled midgame for form and tactical reasons. Starters never played 4th quarters if the result was decided. I remember one year in the 90s when everyone marvelled that Mark Brunell was the only NFL QB to take every snap. Seemed like an impossible feat. Nowdays every starter plays every down unless they are badly injured.

 

[windward]

It's a small change, but I would hope that illegal contact someday wouldn't be an automatic first.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

I blame fantasy football. I really do. I hate it. It does a couple of different things. It makes stats more important that actually playing the game. It also changes how fans watch the game. Used to, fans didn't care if the QB threw for 300 or 100 yards,, did the team win? That was the only question. Now if a QB doesn't throw 300 yards and 2 tds a game, he sucks. I think the league has done everything they can to make it easier for the O to put up yards and points, this is direct response to the growth of FF and gambling. I believe if we could ban FF, Football would return to being Football and not this product we see today. I also think the Salary Cap and CBA have ruined the league too.

 

[Jarv]

The NFL is a beast. Far and away the most popular fan sport in America. It destroys anything in its path when it comes to TV ratings and overall attention.

But that is entirely based on what the NFL has been for the past half century. What it was, and what it's becoming, are two different games. And folks are starting to notice.

I watched a lot of football yesterday, as I have for the past few years with the NFL Sunday Ticket. Each week this season, I've been wildly unimpressed with what we're seeing around the league. Sloppy, frustrating football mired with too much inconsistency and mistakes from players, coaches, officials, and just general play.

Some points to that effect:

• Only 11 out of 32 teams have winning records. Most of the league is awful.
• Quarterback play is horrendous. Matt Cassel is actually average.
• College is producing very few quarterbacks capable of the NFL game. When Brady, Brees, Peyton, Romo, Roethlisberger, and a couple others retire, it's going to get uglier.
• Officiating is horrible because of unclear rules that are being interpreted by a league office in disarray.
• Defensive holding/illegal contact is out of control. It's determining game outcomes.
• Pick plays still go rampantly uncalled. Refs call too much of what they shouldn't and not enough of what they should.
• Overblown statistics due to rules.
• Practice is virtually outlawed, so tackling is awful and football conditioning is poor.
• Injuries are out of control partly because the CBA doesn't allow for proper preparation.
• Too many look-at-me bonehead plays and penalties. Players today are just football stupid.
• "Concussion protocol" and the rules surrounding legality of hits will continue to increase.
• Parents in affluent areas are pulling their kids out of football in droves. It'll soon be a "poor" sport like boxing.
• Broadcasting that over-exaggerates performance, statistics, and fantasy football points.
• Way too many commercials.
• Far too much "social awareness" in broadcasting, which is now centered on new and casual fans.

This once great league is being torn apart by (partly legitimate) concern over CTE and the resulting rules ambiguity and CBA restrictions on proper football training. There seems to be political movement to eliminate tackle football as we know it.

Couple that with fans that are losing trust in the integrity of what they are watching, and recognizing that it's starting to look very different than what it once did. The passion for it is steeped in what the NFL used to be, not what it is. Hardcore fan support is slowly starting to wane as we come to grips with where this is headed.

I know it is with me. And this league is slowly losing me. I'm thankful that I got to see it when it was once so great.

 

[Swanny]

NFL is on a fast track to becoming the number 2 or 3 sport in America. And here's why:
- Turning a blind eye to PEDS. These guys are too big and fast causing players to rely on athleticism and no technique.
- Head injuries. With "better" helmets, players size and speed, piss poor technique comes head injuries. And now that the knowledge of these head injuries is coming out it makes young talented sports players pick a different sport. Causing the talent in football to dip.
- Trying to make aan AmeRican sport global.
- And just having the NFL pushed in our faces all year long will create fans to push back. Mark Cuban was in fact correct in what he said was going to happen to the NFL.

There's more but I hate typing on my phone

 

[CrownCowboy]

I have been watching less and less the past few years. Ever since I dumped DTV NFL ST and their horrible consumer idiotic reps.
I been finding myself putting some games on mute more and more, while doing other things, even watching NETFLIX here and there at different times throughout the games.

I can't stand Buck and Aikman anymore, watched a good 1/3 if not more of the game on mute.
I will never miss a Cowboys game, but Doesn't mean with a pathetic performance, I need to listen to it. I never done that before until yesterday.

I will have tonight's game on, and pay attention to it, but may not have the sound on as much, as I may be doing other things while watching. that has become normal lately for non Cowboys games.
Tired of the poor officiating, and a handful of teams getting every call their way where other teams get all calls against them.

Even NCAA refs are horrible at times. NC got absolutely screwed against Clemson.

They need to have officials at the games in a booth, that see something like that, and over rule it. And goes for obvious penalties or non penalties, like GB was gifted a face mask call that allowed the hail mary win. That should be reviewable.
That has been getting me more and more turned against watching.
I know I will still watch, but don't need to watch it as much or watch every single play.

I am planning to list my season tickets PSL's for sale this off season. I still have the Commanders game left, and thankfully all the other games sold before the season started.
Thing is, and I will get blasted for this, but hope we don't make the playoffs for monetary reasons. I am on the pay as they play this year. So if they make the playoffs, i will get tickets, but i really do not want to pay $1000 to see them blown out, as they won't sell.
I said before I always root for wins, and I still will, but will hope the other teams do too to eliminate us, well so I say right now. But this is strictly financial reasons...LOL...Jerry has enough of my money for not getting a QB for the future...LOL...

It's been hard to get over that call in the Carolina game. Although I do think Clemson was better, that was just a horrible call.

 

[Wrangler87]

I don't enjoy the NFL near as much as I used to, for all the points mentioned above. I didn't enjoy it as much last season, when the Cowboys were good. It just seems like the game has way too many interruptions. Too many reviews, commercial breaks. I mean, it's like...TD (review commercial), back for extra point (commercial), back for kickoff (commercial). That's why the Red zone Channel is so popular. It only alleviates some of the delays though.

And college is not better. There are more one-sided games in college football than any other sport on Earth...and the same amount of commercials.

 

[Cowboys22]

The NFL is slowly dropping in importance for me year after year. Its not the same game I grew up watching and fell in love with. I did the fantasy football for about 12 years but quit all my leagues about 5 years ago. I noticed myself cheering for players that by doing well, hurt the Cowboys. I figured out I was spending much more time and emotion on non Cowboys related items. I am way happier now than then but I hate where the league is going. One thing I have noticed this year is the number of late flags thrown on big plays. Its as if the officials are waiting for the outcome of the play before deciding whether to call the penalty. Almost a no harm no foul attitude. Does anyone else find themselves waiting 2-3 seconds for a late flag every time there is a big play? I also must admit that many of my negative feeling most likely stem from the realization that our coaching staff is soo behind the times compared to many other teams that we have no hope to have real success. I watch but have no expectations which leads to almost no emotion during the game. I am basically numb to the incompetence, poor coaching, mental mistakes, and losing.

 

[Fletch]

When the Cowboys are good I am all in but the product we have put on the field with Garrett is just soooooooo boring to watch. Even when we're winning it is a very boring style.


I still think the playoffs are must watch TV but the regular season does get hard to watch this time of year.

Then you must have really thought the 90's dynasty was really boring. Run first, timing-based passing attack. Ball control. No gimmicks. I loved it. Last year was the closest thing to the 90's. If that's boring, then you need to check yourself brah.

 

[JoeBoBBY]

I have noticed the sloppy football. Thats for sure. Basic fundamentals. Both coaching and palyers....

These teams look "patched together" and thrown out there; More Injuries, Concussion protocol, Lack of practice time, more flags, etc etc. It all looks different then what I saw growing up. -- The game is always interuppted for something or another. If someone got hurt, he trotted off the field, for the most part. A little bumping and shoving didnt get a flag every other play.

But the NFL is bigger then ever. It may not be the NFL we grew up with, but its attracting more and more kids then ever. Its tied into the basic fabric of Thanksgiving! And the US Military. NFL aint going anywhere, but the football some of us knew, is probably gone forever.....

 

[maxdallasfan]

When 99.9999999% of the games come down to the last play, you have a problem.

Unfortunately, in the age of every kid gets a trophy, and every kid makes the team, and no kids get letter grades anymore since an "F" can hamper them for the rest of their lives, this is what the NFL wants.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Like with music, I've been getting less and less into sports as I get older. I was obsessed with WWF wrestling my whole life up until high school when I suddenly stopped watching it. I can't remember if I gradually became less interested or if I just stopped watching it cold turkey. I was obsessed with music, especially hip hop, from high school until my early/mid 20s and I gradually became less interested. Now I go months without listening to music and when I do, it's the same few songs I've been listening to for years. And my entire life I was a huge sports fanatic. My favorites were football, hockey, basketball, baseball and boxing, but I followed many more. Now at 29, I haven't watched boxing in years, hockey in years, stopped watching baseball about a year or two ago, almost watch no basketball besides regularly checking on stats and standings, and watch virtually no football besides the Cowboys and the playoffs. The Cowboys have been the only thing I've stuck with my entire life. If not for the Cowboys, I probably wouldn't even follow football. Jerry sure makes it frustrating to be a fan... I don't know what my point is. Maybe that I wonder if I lose interest one day.

 

[John813]

When 99.9999999% of the games come down to the last play, you have a problem.

Unfortunately, in the age of every kid gets a trophy, and every kid makes the team, and no kids get letter grades anymore since an "F" can hamper them for the rest of their lives, this is what the NFL wants.

What's wrong with that? Rather see a game go down to the wire than a 38-0 game or 28-7 routs.

1 to 2 score wins are fine with me.

 

[CATCH17]

Then you must have really thought the 90's dynasty was really boring. Run first, timing-based passing attack. Ball control. No gimmicks. I loved it. Last year was the closest thing to the 90's. If that's boring, then you need to check yourself brah.

It was fine in the 90s for the simple reason that we just outmanned every team we faced offensively and defensively.

When you're doing the same thing over and over and losing and losing then it becomes boring and hard to watch.

 

[links18]

The have the game scores at the bottom of the screen nearly non-stop. What do you need? Neon lights flashing you the scores?

No they don't. They scroll the Jaguars top performers for 15 mins, because that is more important today then who actually won the game.

 

[CATCH17]

What's wrong with that? Rather see a game go down to the wire than a 38-0 game or 28-7 routs.

1 to 2 score wins are fine with me.

I'm fine with it as well but people ignore this reality when they say Garrett kept us in every game.

NFL games on average are close. The bad teams hang with the good teams. So don't tell me Garrett kept us in every game without Romo. It's meant to be that way.

 

[Fletch]

It was fine in the 90s for the simple reason that we just outmanned every team we faced offensively and defensively.

When you're doing the same thing over and over and losing and losing then it becomes boring and hard to watch.

I get that. But it was far from boring last year, which you mentioned as boring, unless you were referring to our three wins from this season.