NFL is a bad product this year

[murf74 461]

EOM

[Jedi Sensei 17]

Why? What do you think makes it bad?

 

Serious question, I'm just looking for specifics.

 

I've seen player protests as a reason it's "bad"

I've seen player performance as a reason it's "bad"

I've seen player injuries as a reason it's "bad"

I've seen penalties on players as a reason it's "bad"

I've seen prime-time broadcast selections as a reason it's "bad"

I've seen poor overall schedules as a reason it's "bad"

I've seen parity deficiencies as a reason it's "bad"

 

...and I've seen pretty much all those reasons in years past, sometimes altogether, so again I was wondering, is there something in particular that makes it a bad product -- bad this year, especially -- and what is behind that.

[BuschWack 56]

I would argue that the NFL is facing an identity crIsis and it's showing in the ratings. You could include everything you've mentioned above to boot.

 

It may not know what the future holds and even if NFL executives do know, they're hesitant to let on or admit what is being avoided in fear or liability.

 

What is it trying to market now?

 

Gone are those hard hitting, knockout pregame collage pieces.. Showing the likes of Steve Atwater, Ronnie Lott and John Lynch.

 

Who are it's villains and heroes to draw the casual fan?

[joeshushu 51]

We need Rollarball. The James Caan version. There is even that scene where some of the executives in the movie sit around recalling something called the NFL.

[Phil Simms 11 127]

Is it because the Steelers lost? Ben injury?

[cousinal111 57]

I admit that there has been plenty of prime time games that have been ugly but I still love it and will watch.

 

I have the NFL package so unless it's the Broncos or the prime time game has major fantasy implications I don't stay up past halftime.

[Jarvis Basnight 119]

How is it just getting bad this year? It's been horrible for a while now. If I didn't have a fantasy team I would not pay attention at all. My players are all I care about

[cousinal111 57]

How is it just getting bad this year? It's been horrible for a while now. If I didn't have a fantasy team I would not pay attention at all. My players are all I care about

That may be the issue with some fans. I wonder how many NFL fans are more Fantasy Football fans? I'm a Denver fan before any fantasy team.

[redsrback 30]

I think the RBs are dragging alot down. Multi RBs and nobody can stay healthy these days. Also so many QBs that run the ball. Im sick of QBs who struggle for 200 yards passing even if they rush for 70. The game is changeing and becoming more entertainment then a mans sport we grew up with. And yes, NFL commissioner and owners allow kneeling because even they lost there sac. Imagine how many heads would of been taken off in the old days over that.

[Law 220]

Mike & Mike stole your idea.

[redsrback 30]

Mike & Mike stole your idea.

Mine?

[redsrback 30]

I dont watch much espn these days, some people i liked they got rid of. Then add in the fact i cant understand people who slur there words just makes it miserable.

[Djgb13 2,338]

Blame Goodell. He's ruining the fun aspect of the game. Too many flags, too many commercials, too many bad games, too many reviews, too many fines, etc. I could go on all day how bad he's made it to be. After this year they really need to take a hard look at themselves and restructure the league

[jimaveli 119]

It's not an event any more.

 

Wives hate to see it consume us all day and/or on multiple days.

 

Thursday night almost every week was and still is a horrible idea.

 

The average bro who doesn't really care one way or another about a specific team has better things to do. Despite all of the advertising, there's almost always next week/year and the games don't have obvious consequences until later on.

 

Fantasy football has saturated the experience with concerns about stats. It doesn't matter if the game is close or not..folks just want their guys to score more so they can win a few bucks.

 

Biggest thing? Red zone and Sunday ticket have made it more obvious that watching one game alone is a pretty inefficient/slow experience...there's soooooo much downtime with reviews, commercials, the 'presentation', and the time between most plays.

 

And now, since even the average person is versed in taking in lots of information via apps and internet, it is more obvious that individual games don't have a lot going on sometimes.

 

Add in podcasts. A lot of them are out there. And there's some good ones for fantasy. And many of them are at least as entertaining as the average pre-show with more topical data presented. And again, they are more efficient in general. And there's ffwd when they stop to sell mattresses, meals, or men's clothing of some kind.

 

Tldr: Outside of Thursday night, it is not the games themselves. Folks are still getting hit. There's still a lot of talent. Theres still absurd highlights/big plays. There's still lots of close games. There's still surprises and ups and downs. it's the bs around the games, fantasy making stats and TDs THE things of note, our increased capacity/desire to take in information, and red zone/Sunday ticket has exposed the fact that a single game 'experience' is a slow and inefficient one.

[Law 220]

Mine?

 

The OP's.

[GornFishin' 57]

Taking 4 hours to complete a game consisting of 4 x 15 minute quarters is ridiculous. No other team sport in the world has that amount of wastage around the actual play.

 

Just about everything sh!tty about the game can be traced back to that.

 

Commercial saturation, endless waffle, over officiating. All sizzle (and often more like fizzle) than steak.

 

The commercials after a post-score kickoff (when there has just been a plague of commercials BEFORE the kickoff) when basically 22 guys run on and off the field is annoying to the max. Use that time to give us information - not over the top of plays.

 

But it's not going to turn around. If the NFL considered these, and other issues listed, as problems, they would have fixed them by now. They just see a product to be fiscally maximised ie milked until it's dead.

[SpenceToons 70]

 

Biggest thing? Red zone and Sunday ticket have made it more obvious that watching one game alone is a pretty inefficient/slow experience...

 

 

 

Myself, I look forward to the stand-alone games because they're the only ones for which we have in-game discussion threads. Just as the comments from Joel, Tom, and Crow can enhance a bad movie on Mystery Science Theater 3000; I enjoy following all the gripes, zingers, and fist-pumps from my FFtoday brothers as a game winds through its twists and turns.

[Jarvis Basnight 119]

Don't watch on Sundays. Have other things to do. Hate watching at all with so many stops.

 

Just roll with espn fantasy app for my team, and yahoo sports app for up to minute game stats. Watching is a waste of my time

[joeshushu 51]

I think the RBs are dragging alot down. Multi RBs and nobody can stay healthy these days. Also so many QBs that run the ball. Im sick of QBs who struggle for 200 yards passing even if they rush for 70. The game is changeing and becoming more entertainment then a mans sport we grew up with. And yes, NFL commissioner and owners allow kneeling because even they lost there sac. Imagine how many heads would of been taken off in the old days over that.

How is it just getting bad this year? It's been horrible for a while now. If I didn't have a fantasy team I would not pay attention at all. My players are all I care about

I agree with this. I watched the niner TB game it was horrid especially the niners. At one point a niner defense players went down after every play (probably got tired of the enempt offense keeping them on the field).

[Texas10 15]

Taking 4 hours to complete a game consisting of 4 x 15 minute quarters is ridiculous. No other team sport in the world has that amount of wastage around the actual play.

 

Just about everything sh!tty about the game can be traced back to that.

 

Commercial saturation, endless waffle, over officiating. All sizzle (and often more like fizzle) than steak.

 

The commercials after a post-score kickoff (when there has just been a plague of commercials BEFORE the kickoff) when basically 22 guys run on and off the field is annoying to the max. Use that time to give us information - not over the top of plays.

 

But it's not going to turn around. If the NFL considered these, and other issues listed, as problems, they would have fixed them by now. They just see a product to be fiscally maximised ie milked until it's dead.

 

Agree completely that this is a big problem, I used to watch so much football but I just can't dedicate this much time to it anymore. It's ridiculous, I now tune into ends or pieces of some games, I still watch my team but that's it, just not enough time in a day to do more. Hell I miss some of this game sometimes because I have to get other done. Games should be no longer than 3 hours....

[Apollo Creed 9]

Its the worst football ive seen in 30 years

[Oriole8159 86]

yesterday was just bad in general; across the board.

I gave up on the Sun night game at halftime, and woke up to find it went all the way to the end in OT. Must mean it didn't get over til damn near 11:30; glad I made that decision.

[Brutal Brutus 182]

I've been a sports fan most of my life and I have never been able to latch on to a team. Fantasy football is the only thing that keeps me watching as often as I can. They all seem to be run by the greediest s.o.b.'s, who are employing some of the worst humans on this earth. Also,there is no loyalty in the NFL. Between owners, players, and fans, the only people who ever show loyalty are the fans. Outside of PR stunts, the NFL and the majority of players show very little loyalty to each other or the fan base. I've never understood people who are die a hard fans for an organization that has literally done nothing for them except try and squeeze every last dime out of them.

 

As far as the other issues go. The league has turned into a passing league and only has a handful of QBs that can actually do it on a regular basis. Thus making a lot of games near unwatchable due to blowouts or poor play from both Qbs dragging the product and entertainment value down. It's on all the time, so my wife gets sick of having football on the tv every night of the week, so I'll concede when the game has very little intrigue. As many have already pointed out, the prime time games have been an overall snooze fest. I'll still watch the games because I like football, but for a casual fan the NFL seems to be giving them every reason not to watch on a regular basis.

[murf74 461]

Mike & Mike stole your idea.

 

 

What were their points. I think a lot of posters on here nailed many of the ones I had in mind.

 

It's disappointing. This year NFL games are more of a thing I feel I have to watch for fantasy purposes, not something I am really enjoying at all.

[BiPolarBear 476]

I watched the Cardinals tie the Seahawks last night.

 

I am sure there are more exciting badminton games going on as we speak.

[Maulers1973 117]

IMO the football itself isn't bad.

 

I don't like Goodell and all his rulling this and that. I think he has been overall bad for the sport.

 

I don't like flags for a celebration. Come on, let them have a tiny bit of fun. Seriously! lol

 

Players acting like something other than a football player. Not cool. Get over yourself. You can barely beat out Blaine Gabbert to start on a terrible team.

 

Injuries. Would increasing padding or changing the protection gear reduce the number of injuries? Maybe not, but I think it's worth looking into. The injury rate continues to be alarming.

[Kent 228]

I blame the hipster generation. Bunch of pansies.

[brotherbock 349]

IMO the football itself isn't bad.

 

I don't like Goodell and all his rulling this and that. I think he has been overall bad for the sport.

 

I don't like flags for a celebration. Come on, let them have a tiny bit of fun. Seriously! lol

 

 

 

How bizzaro has it gotten that a bunch of grown men were huddled up trying to decide if Crabtree's finger moved when he raised it to his throat after the score? FFS.

[SaintsInDome2006 128]

Seriously I blame Goidell.

[DaBeerz 88]

It's not an event any more.

 

Wives hate to see it consume us all day and/or on multiple days.

 

Thursday night almost every week was and still is a horrible idea.

 

The average bro who doesn't really care one way or another about a specific team has better things to do. Despite all of the advertising, there's almost always next week/year and the games don't have obvious consequences until later on.

 

Fantasy football has saturated the experience with concerns about stats. It doesn't matter if the game is close or not..folks just want their guys to score more so they can win a few bucks.

 

Biggest thing? Red zone and Sunday ticket have made it more obvious that watching one game alone is a pretty inefficient/slow experience...there's soooooo much downtime with reviews, commercials, the 'presentation', and the time between most plays.

 

And now, since even the average person is versed in taking in lots of information via apps and internet, it is more obvious that individual games don't have a lot going on sometimes.

 

Add in podcasts. A lot of them are out there. And there's some good ones for fantasy. And many of them are at least as entertaining as the average pre-show with more topical data presented. And again, they are more efficient in general. And there's ffwd when they stop to sell mattresses, meals, or men's clothing of some kind.

 

Tldr: Outside of Thursday night, it is not the games themselves. Folks are still getting hit. There's still a lot of talent. Theres still absurd highlights/big plays. There's still lots of close games. There's still surprises and ups and downs. it's the bs around the games, fantasy making stats and TDs THE things of note, our increased capacity/desire to take in information, and red zone/Sunday ticket has exposed the fact that a single game 'experience' is a slow and inefficient one.

 

PVR as well, does anyone even watch live games anymore? I love me some football, but going to the bar and watching the game for 3 and a half hours is excruciating, especially when I can bang out a game in 1.5 hours at home on the PVR.

 

As you said, Redzone with highlights is a far better way to watch all the games. Unless it's a high end matchup, which so far this year have been disappointing.

 

Thursday night games this year have been abysmal. So have most of the Monday Nighters. I think they need to kill the Thursday night game for good.

[brotherbock 349]

 

Thursday night games this year have been abysmal.

 

I have enjoyed Jets/Bills (week 2), Pats/Texans (week 3), Cards/niners (week 5...not the best, but watchable), and Packers/Bears (week 7). That's four of seven that have been enjoyable games. I think that's about league average.

 

The difference for Thursdays, and Mondays, is that you have no other choices. Many people on Sundays can flip to a different game if yours sucks. Even the networks do that. So there's a false perception that Mon/Thurs games are worse. But they really aren't.

[DaBeerz 88]

 

I have enjoyed Jets/Bills (week 2), Pats/Texans (week 3), Cards/niners (week 5...not the best, but watchable), and Packers/Bears (week 7). That's four of seven that have been enjoyable games. I think that's about league average.

 

The difference for Thursdays, and Mondays, is that you have no other choices. Many people on Sundays can flip to a different game if yours sucks. Even the networks do that. So there's a false perception that Mon/Thurs games are worse. But they really aren't.

 

You gotta be kidding, we have different levels of enjoyment from football then.

 

Jets/Bills, ok early in the season, so both teams were still kind of relevant, but it's not a premiere matchup, and everyone and their dog knows those 2 teams would be out of the hunt by like week 12 anyway.

 

Texans didn't do a damn thing in that game and pitched a shutout. I guess it's enjoyable if you're a Pats homer, but otherwise that game was hot garbage.

 

Cards niners were both 1-3 for that garbage time game, so nobody gave a crap unless they had FF players involved.

 

Packers/Bears was pretty underwhelming but I guess Roders had a decent comeback game so there's that.

[Dsausage 36]

Red zone ruining a normal game for us

[brotherbock 349]

 

You gotta be kidding, we have different levels of enjoyment from football then.

 

Jets/Bills, ok early in the season, so both teams were still kind of relevant, but it's not a premiere matchup, and everyone and their dog knows those 2 teams would be out of the hunt by like week 12 anyway.

 

Texans didn't do a damn thing in that game and pitched a shutout. I guess it's enjoyable if you're a Pats homer, but otherwise that game was hot garbage.

 

Cards niners were both 1-3 for that garbage time game, so nobody gave a crap unless they had FF players involved.

 

Packers/Bears was pretty underwhelming but I guess Roders had a decent comeback game so there's that.

If you can only enjoy games you have a personal stake in, then yeah, our notions of enjoyment are different. I can enjoy a football game if it's played well--even if that means one team putting on a clinic, as in the Pats Texans game--regardless of who is playing. I enjoyed watching the game before I played fantasy, when I had a personal stake in far fewer games each week.

 

So yeah, if that's all you like, you won't enjoy many games.

[shredhead 21]

I guess the 21-20 opening night game between last year's 2 superbowl participants was a crappy Thursday night game too.

I agree they should scrap the Thursday night idea, but to say all the games are crap is a little short sighted IMO.

[Larry David 20]

I find it laughable that people think the protests have something to do with it. So, NFL players can beat and rape women among many other felonies, and the ratings are through the roof but take a knee during the national anthem and that's crossing an unforgivable line?? If that's not screwed up, right wing BS logic, I don't know what is.

 

To me, most of the real reasons have been mentioned in this thread:

 

The Thursday night games have hurt for two reasons: The quality of the play during those games is usually subpar and having three games in five nights lessens the novelty of football being a Sunday + one game event.

 

The Redzone channel, which is right up there with anesthesia and the internet as the one of the greatest inventions of all time, has spoiled us. Now sitting through five minutes of commercials while watching two minutes of football is a lot tougher to swallow.

 

The skyrocketing amount of injuries hurts for many reasons 1) they mess up the flow of the game. How many times do games go to a TV timeout because someone is being helped or carted off the field? 2) injuries hurt fantasy football... especially when it comes to running backs 3) the moral aspect of it.... I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I find it harder and harder to ignore the fact that we're watching these guys take years off their lives. I know, no one is forcing them to play football and they make millions doing it, but when you think about how busy surgeons have been just on NFL players this year, it's pretty sobering. Yes, it's hypocritical of me to keep watching it and complain about the injuries but i find myself thinking about it more and more.

[IGotWorms 3,310]

Oversaturation is the main culprit. Stop with Thursday night football, stop with the European crap. Figure out how to get teams enough practices that the first month of the season doesn't look like extended pre-season

[ChinaCat 21]

The kneeling during the anthem is bad enough. But allowing players to give the black power fist salute (The Black Panthers are a terrorist organizaion) has killed it for me.. I still play fantasy but I might have watched one game this year.

 

Imagine if white players started giving some white power salute? It would be stopped in a minute. And rightfully so.

 

Goodell is a f'in moron.

[IGotWorms 3,310]

You're an idiot who buys too much into media hype if the protests have killed it for you. I don't care much one way or the other, haven't gone looking for it, don't listen to talk radio and the like... and I haven't seen a damn thing about protests on the field. Not once has it impacted my viewing experience in any way

[RoadLizard 73]

That may be the issue with some fans. I wonder how many NFL fans are more Fantasy Football fans? I'm a Denver fan before any fantasy team.

 

This is a HUGE part of the problem. If fantasy football were to be elmininated.... the ratings would tank a lot more than they have. Here is what I think the problems are overall:

 

1) The on-field product is lower quality than before and its getting worse. Not enough good QBs and a plethora of truly bad teams just make the game hard to watch. Salary caps, rampant free agency and parity have caught up and it makes the game quality simply bad. Its mostly bad football being played out there these days.

2) The supposed "marquee matchups" are anything but that. Due to item #1, what are supposed to be good games end up being crap and unwatchable. A 6-6 focking tie on national TV for your prime game? BARF. Absolutely awful. And, since no teams are truly "good" and consistent, many of the matchups that should be good are lopsided and over by halftime.

3) Stupid rule changes like the kickoff thing, cant hit anyone, cant touch QBs anymore, taking the toughness OUT of the game, etc, etc. Look - if the goal is to prevent injury then just dissolve the league altogether. Then no one can get hurt. Face it - the game is pussified now more than ever. Goddell is a focking piece of garbage.

4) No game flow.... way too many stoppages, reviews, commercials, etc, etc. Its a fact that gajmes take longer than ever and you can point your finger at the larger number of stoppages than ever before. Reviews seem to happen every few plays. More timeouts, more injuries, more BS to kill the flow of the game. Then, the TV coverage has to saddle us with copious amounts of ads to pay for this crap. Commercials before and after the extra point? After kickoffs? Punts? Fock off - play the damned game - I dont want to watch another Toyota or Chevy ad. Geezus. People get up during ads and may never return.

5) Too many injuroes to key players and not enough star players to root for or against. Sure, everyone hates the The Pats but they are the only team that elicits a response from non-fans or casual fans. Ya love them or hate them. The rest of the league? The 5-1 Vikings have Sam Bradford at QB. Great. Who are the good players now? What teams are these players on? Most people dont know and therefore cant care.

 

The game is quite crappy when compared to the 80's and 90's. The best teams now(Pats, Seattle, Denver, etc) have 8-8 talent if they played during any other era The quality is down and the BS is up. Period.

 

Those are the facts.