Unless we find our future QB

[Jetster]

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

Did you guys see that in the last 15 Superbowls the AFC has had 4 QBs, Brady, Big Ben, Payton Manning in all but 2 games (Flacco/Gannon)

So anyone that doesn't think tanking is a strategy that should have been considered a few times at the end of the year is an idiot. This is a perfect example of Woody Johnson just being a complete airhead regarding this team he owns. You don't have to tank intentionally, you put out a mandate on your coach that they play as many young players as possible to get a look. Perfect example was that KC game. We won in freaking overtime, big whoop! Matt Ryan was the consensus beat QB in the draft, coached by Tom Coughlin in a pro offense. You tank in this league for QBs. Look at the QBs Tom Brady & BB have faced in the AFC east for the past 16 years! Horrific!

The only times they have been beaten is if they faced an above average defense & at least a mediocre QB. Steelers tried to beat them with a way to young secondary & a 39 year old pass rusher,lol. Houston could have beat them if they even had a semblance of a decent QB.

[rangerous]

imo the problem is not losing games but losing them intentionally.  after a while that kind of strategy becomes self fulfilling and you get a losing attitude.  and playing the young players shouldn't matter.  if the team is good those young players will play pretty well. they shouldn't be on a team just to fill out a uniform.  ask the dolts how their karma is after sucking for luck.

[JustInFudge]

1 hour ago, Jetster said:

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

Did you guys see that in the last 15 Superbowls the AFC has had 4 QBs, Brady, Big Ben, Payton Manning in all but 2 games (Flacco/Gannon)

So anyone that doesn't think tanking is a strategy that should have been considered a few times at the end of the year is an idiot. This is a perfect example of Woody Johnson just being a complete airhead regarding this team he owns. You don't have to tank intentionally, you put out a mandate on your coach that they play as many young players as possible to get a look. Perfect example was that KC game. We won in freaking overtime, big whoop! Matt Ryan was the consensus beat QB in the draft, coached by Tom Coughlin in a pro offense. You tank in this league for QBs. Look at the QBs Tom Brady & BB have faced in the AFC east for the past 16 years! Horrific!

The only times they have been beaten is if they faced an above average defense & at least a mediocre QB. Steelers tried to beat them with a way to young secondary & a 39 year old pass rusher,lol. Houston could have beat them if they even had a semblance of a decent QB.

I think you have your Tom's confused.  Coughlin never coached Matt Ryan. He was busy winning a SB with the Giants when Matt Ryan was a Senior.

Tom O'Brien was Ryan's HC at Boston College. 

[southparkcpa]

2 minutes ago, JiF said:

Tom O'Brien was Ryan's HC at Boston College. 

and when he came to NC State was blessed with Russel Wilson and had NO IDEA how to put him in a proper offense.

[Stonehands]

1 hour ago, Jetster said:

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

Did you guys see that in the last 15 Superbowls the AFC has had 4 QBs, Brady, Big Ben, Payton Manning in all but 2 games (Flacco/Gannon)

So anyone that doesn't think tanking is a strategy that should have been considered a few times at the end of the year is an idiot. This is a perfect example of Woody Johnson just being a complete airhead regarding this team he owns. You don't have to tank intentionally, you put out a mandate on your coach that they play as many young players as possible to get a look. Perfect example was that KC game. We won in freaking overtime, big whoop! Matt Ryan was the consensus beat QB in the draft, coached by Tom Coughlin in a pro offense. You tank in this league for QBs. Look at the QBs Tom Brady & BB have faced in the AFC east for the past 16 years! Horrific!

The only times they have been beaten is if they faced an above average defense & at least a mediocre QB. Steelers tried to beat them with a way to young secondary & a 39 year old pass rusher,lol. Houston could have beat them if they even had a semblance of a decent QB.

So, I guess the Patriots should be applauded for losing on purpose to be in line to draft Brady?  Or the Seahawks with Wilson?  Having a high draft pick secures very little. There are more high profile busts than treasures at the top of the draft and they set franchises back for a while.  As Herm said, "You play to win the game."  Then you rely on your scouting and player development to do the rest.  Our issue has not been draft position, it is player procurement and development.  We have sucked at it.  We drafted a "franchise QB" in Sanchez who either sucked or wasn't developed properly.  We got the consensus number one QB in his draft in Geno who either sucked or wasn't developed correctly.  The teams in this league that lose frequently, continue to lose for the most part. You create a winning atmosphere throughout your organization because good things happen to those types of front offices and coaching staffs.  See Green Bay, the Steelers, the Cowboys....somehow they found QB's without the dumpster fire strategy that you suggest.

[Jet Fan RI]

1 hour ago, Jetster said:

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

Did you guys see that in the last 15 Superbowls the AFC has had 4 QBs, Brady, Big Ben, Payton Manning in all but 2 games (Flacco/Gannon)

So anyone that doesn't think tanking is a strategy that should have been considered a few times at the end of the year is an idiot. This is a perfect example of Woody Johnson just being a complete airhead regarding this team he owns. You don't have to tank intentionally, you put out a mandate on your coach that they play as many young players as possible to get a look. Perfect example was that KC game. We won in freaking overtime, big whoop! Matt Ryan was the consensus beat QB in the draft, coached by Tom Coughlin in a pro offense. You tank in this league for QBs. Look at the QBs Tom Brady & BB have faced in the AFC east for the past 16 years! Horrific!

The only times they have been beaten is if they faced an above average defense & at least a mediocre QB. Steelers tried to beat them with a way to young secondary & a 39 year old pass rusher,lol. Houston could have beat them if they even had a semblance of a decent QB.

Well, count me among the idiots. If draft position is so important, why do the Pats keep winning despite always having won previously, thus winding up with low draft picks? And last year they didn't even have a single 1st round pick, and yet here they are on their way again to the SB. And then there's the fact that guys like Dan Marino can be had at picks around 16 or so.

So for me, I hope the Jets keep winning games,

[ASH1962]

I can never condone losing on purpose. It destroys the integrity of the sport, and is not fair to other teams that are perhaps hoping we can upset someone at the end of the season to allow them to make the playoffs. It is not fair to the league to lose intentionally. Having said that, I agree the QB is everything. But GB has one of, if not the best QB in the world supposedly and they have won / been to 1 SB with him. Forget the NE thing, they have something going on there that is unknown to anyone else in all sports. It hurts us so much because we are stuck forever in a time warp with them it seems. We as Jet fans would not give a damn if the NO Saints because this dynasty that won and appeared in the SB virtually every year. But still, we will never win or be competitive without a competent, if not good to great QB which we obviously do not have yet. But I can never root for my team to tank / lose intentionally. Rest assured though, as long as Bubba Gump Bowltite is our HC we will continue to do that (lose a lot) quite naturally with no need to tank.

[Jimmy 2 Times]

Brady, Big Ben, Manning.

Only one was a top draft pick.

no need to tank, we have Hack.

[#27TheDominator]

Just now, Jimmy 2 Times said:

Brady, Big Ben, Manning.

Only one was a top draft pick.

no need to tank, we have Hack.

That haiku sucks

[j4jets]

Players won't lose a game intentionally. Their livelihood depends on it. Its up to the CS and FO to put such a team together where they are set up to lose.

[FidelioJet]

26 minutes ago, ASH1962 said:

I can never condone losing on purpose. It destroys the integrity of the sport, and is not fair to other teams that are perhaps hoping we can upset someone at the end of the season to allow them to make the playoffs. It is not fair to the league to lose intentionally. Having said that, I agree the QB is everything. But GB has one of, if not the best QB in the world supposedly and they have won / been to 1 SB with him. Forget the NE thing, they have something going on there that is unknown to anyone else in all sports. It hurts us so much because we are stuck forever in a time warp with them it seems. We as Jet fans would not give a damn if the NO Saints because this dynasty that won and appeared in the SB virtually every year. But still, we will never win or be competitive without a competent, if not good to great QB which we obviously do not have yet. But I can never root for my team to tank / lose intentionally. Rest assured though, as long as Bubba Gump Bowltite is our HC we will continue to do that (lose a lot) quite naturally with no need to tank.

Very few people are suggesting to lose on purpose, but what they should be doing is playing youth, cutting most players over 30 (especially the high priced ones), and not signing any free agent over 30.  

When doing that you are likely to lose as the team simply isn't ready to compete but at the same time you're doing was best for the long term interest of your franchise. And I don't mean the draft pick - that's just a nice bonus.  The big thing is giving youth time to get better and being able to truly judge potential.

 

[Jet Fan RI]

15 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

Very few people are suggesting to lose on purpose, but what they should be doing is playing youth, cutting most players over 30 (especially the high priced ones), and not signing any free agent over 30.  

When doing that you are likely to lose as the team simply isn't ready to compete but at the same time you're doing was best for the long term interest of your franchise. And I don't mean the draft pick - that's just a nice bonus.  The big thing is giving youth time to get better and being able to truly judge potential.

 

Well that is a reasonable argument. I don't have an issue with that,

And BTW, just looked up Marino's draft class. He was actually picked at 27, in a year where there were 28 picks in the round. Shows how relatively unimportant draft order is.

[Beerfish]

Having a franchise Qb gets you to the playoffs on a consistent basis and thus you always have a chance.  It also actually allows you to have a 'competitive rebuild'

[Jetster]

6 minutes ago, Jet Fan RI said:

Well that is a reasonable argument. I don't have an issue with that,

And BTW, just looked up Marino's draft class. He was actually picked at 27, in a year where there were 28 picks in the round. Shows how relatively unimportant draft order is.

There wasn't as much scrutiny back in the day regarding the draft. You had like 1 guy doing in depth reports. I don't give a flying f*ck what the idiots posing as NY Jet scouts did in the past, including skipping over Russell Wilson, what I'm saying is now that Macc is here, I know damn well he's not just sticking with Petty/Hack going forward.

He might not be successful but you can be damn sure Macc knows finding a franchise QB is our main objective. It blows my mind how our past how little effort was put into finding a QB in the past. We always relied on over the hill vets or college players with zero experience (Sanchez played 14 college games). 

I wanted Matt Ryan coming out of Boston College. He was right in our sights & instead of just playing all of the youngsters in a lost season we won that last game in overtime & I was devastated! As soon as the Falcons picked Matty, I was like "God dammit, he should be a NY Jet"! I lived in Mass during his college career & I just knew he was going to be a pretty good NFL QB.

We lost out on OBJ too by keeping Rex & letting him go all out with players we weren't even going to keep. Ridiculous, and the blame goes directly on our idiot owner! (Oops, I'm sure we have plenty of fans here that wouldn't even want OBJ as a Jet,lol).

[Pcola]

3 hours ago, JiF said:

I think you have your Tom's confused.  Coughlin never coached Matt Ryan. He was busy winning a SB with the Giants when Matt Ryan was a Senior.

Tom O'Brien was Ryan's HC at Boston College. 

I believe Jagodzinki was Mattie Ice's HC at BC.  I remember because he got fired for interviewing with the Jets after we fired Mangini.

[Patriot Killa]

Go ahead and ask the Colts how that is working out for them. Yeah, they have a real deal QB but the coaching and talent is so voided it doesn't even matter. They have TY Hilton and that's about it. They are in the sorriest division in football....and still can't get to the playoffs. Jaguars got Blake Bortles at #3 paired him with Allen Robinson and still can't win sh*t..ironically that's the same division. You need a complete team. Football is still a team sport even as much as it depends on the QB now. There is still 10 other guys on offense that need to be solid in order to have succes in this league. Winston/Mariota as much as they haven't necessarily sucked or done bad....niether have gotten their teams to the playoffs yet. Again, one of those teams are in the AFC South. You need to build the roster up. That should be the only concern or focus...never tanking. 

[shawn306]

20 hours ago, Jetster said:

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

Did you guys see that in the last 15 Superbowls the AFC has had 4 QBs, Brady, Big Ben, Payton Manning in all but 2 games (Flacco/Gannon)

So anyone that doesn't think tanking is a strategy that should have been considered a few times at the end of the year is an idiot. This is a perfect example of Woody Johnson just being a complete airhead regarding this team he owns. You don't have to tank intentionally, you put out a mandate on your coach that they play as many young players as possible to get a look. Perfect example was that KC game. We won in freaking overtime, big whoop! Matt Ryan was the consensus beat QB in the draft, coached by Tom Coughlin in a pro offense. You tank in this league for QBs. Look at the QBs Tom Brady & BB have faced in the AFC east for the past 16 years! Horrific!

The only times they have been beaten is if they faced an above average defense & at least a mediocre QB. Steelers tried to beat them with a way to young secondary & a 39 year old pass rusher,lol. Houston could have beat them if they even had a semblance of a decent QB.

Ok so if the jets are able draft Watson somehow, how long do you give him to develop ?

 

[JetPotato]

I don't know why people are so bent out of shape, as if sucking on purpose and sucking while trying really make any difference.

As for the "integrity" of it... Hahahahahahahahahahaha

Integrity. NFL.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Big Blocker]

While I do not disagree that the Jets need a franchise Qb, they also need a new owner.

[Jetster]

23 hours ago, shawn306 said:

Ok so if the jets are able draft Watson somehow, how long do you give him to develop ?

 

Franchise QBs show signs & the cream always rises to the top. Fix the Oline & let the best man win. This franchise is a f*cking mess because they have too many people making decisions.

Chan Gailey was a waste of time because he's an OLD FART! How long did u think he was hanging around? Now here we are again without an OC, and again with a HC that's a dead man walking if we don't see a team that starts showing IMPROVEMENT as 2017 progresses. I hate Woody Johnson with a passion, every decision he makes even when he brings in outside help is an unmitigated disaster! This team needs an offensive coach, I'm so done with these DCs taking over. Our HC came in as a DC & our defense was never worse since the freaking 90s.

[varjet]

On 1/26/2017 at 4:36 AM, Patriot Killa said:

Go ahead and ask the Colts how that is working out for them. Yeah, they have a real deal QB but the coaching and talent is so voided it doesn't even matter. They have TY Hilton and that's about it. They are in the sorriest division in football....and still can't get to the playoffs. Jaguars got Blake Bortles at #3 paired him with Allen Robinson and still can't win sh*t..ironically that's the same division. You need a complete team. Football is still a team sport even as much as it depends on the QB now. There is still 10 other guys on offense that need to be solid in order to have succes in this league. Winston/Mariota as much as they haven't necessarily sucked or done bad....niether have gotten their teams to the playoffs yet. Again, one of those teams are in the AFC South. You need to build the roster up. That should be the only concern or focus...never tanking. 

The Colts know that a franchise QB is the key to success in the NFL.  During the Manning era, Bill Polian was able to put together very competitive teams that were always in playoff contention and even won the SB.  But Irsay is in the Woody class in a way, and they tend to try and cut corners, and of late their scouting and team building has been off.

But is the view of most on the board that Irsay knew to tank the seasons required to get Manning and Luck.  I think he did the same thing with Elway too, but Elway would not play for him.

Clearly Luck is of franchise QB caliber.   His coaching is now skimped, just like Woody likes to skimp coaching.  When you have a franchise QB, scouting is absolutely critical, because not only do you need to find players to support your franchise QB, you need to draft REALLY WELL, because your franchise QB needs to be paid an incredible amount of money and their is less money for others.  Thus, the success of teams like Green Bay and the Patriots.   The Patriots are like $60mm under the cap, and they still have Brady (although Brady does play for $10mm less than he could-it is made up for him in other ways).  The Jets are over the cap and still stink.

[Jetster]

5 hours ago, varjet said:

The Colts know that a franchise QB is the key to success in the NFL.  During the Manning era, Bill Polian was able to put together very competitive teams that were always in playoff contention and even won the SB.  But Irsay is in the Woody class in a way, and they tend to try and cut corners, and of late their scouting and team building has been off.

But is the view of most on the board that Irsay knew to tank the seasons required to get Manning and Luck.  I think he did the same thing with Elway too, but Elway would not play for him.

Clearly Luck is of franchise QB caliber.   His coaching is now skimped, just like Woody likes to skimp coaching.  When you have a franchise QB, scouting is absolutely critical, because not only do you need to find players to support your franchise QB, you need to draft REALLY WELL, because your franchise QB needs to be paid an incredible amount of money and their is less money for others.  Thus, the success of teams like Green Bay and the Patriots.   The Patriots are like $60mm under the cap, and they still have Brady (although Brady does play for $10mm less than he could-it is made up for him in other ways).  The Jets are over the cap and still stink.

Great points & Luck has played behind an Oline that is like a sieve & has to make too many plays on his own scrambling & the like and has ended up getting injured. Luck was good enough to make our defense & Todd Bowles look like f*cking pee wee league coaches on MNF, absolutely one of the most embarrassed I've ever felt as a fan of the NY Jets. Disgusting!

[southparkcpa]

4 hours ago, Jetster said:

Great points & Luck has played behind an Oline that is like a sieve & has to make too many plays on his own scrambling & the like and has ended up getting injured. Luck was good enough to make our defense & Todd Bowles look like f*cking pee wee league coaches on MNF, absolutely one of the most embarrassed I've ever felt as a fan of the NY Jets. Disgusting!

Why does it seem we get embarrassed on National TV often.....   Buttfumble, 45  to 3 route, so many others.

[joewilly12]

On 1/25/2017 at 11:24 AM, Jetster said:

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

Ive been saying this since the offseason started I posted this quite a few times, you stole my line. 

Nothing else matters until we find a QB. 

[Jet9]

This is the result of too much Madden. You should always look to improve your team, every day. Colts have Luck and they suck. Rams gave away everything for Goff and they suck. Cowboys had a decent roster (great O-line), hit on Dak and go 14-2. I'd rather be the Cowboys here. 

[Jetknowledge]

Honestly the Bowles hate , woody hate, player hate, is irrelevant because if we had a luck or Ryan or cam. Or any elite qb. We would be a wild card team every year unless we build up the roster and past the pats but with no passing attack we're horrible. Point blank. That's reality. Can't blame Bowles. Mac. Or woody. The past regimes put us in this situation. Until they get the qb I don't believe the rebuild is even started 

[RutgersJetFan]

11 minutes ago, Jetknowledge said:

Honestly the Bowles hate , woody hate, player hate, is irrelevant because if we had a luck or Ryan or cam. Or any elite qb. We would be a wild card team every year unless we build up the roster and past the pats but with no passing attack we're horrible. Point blank. That's reality. Can't blame Bowles. Mac. Or woody. The past regimes put us in this situation. Until they get the qb I don't believe the rebuild is even started 

You're almost there. Reality is it doesn't matter, because anyone we draft is going to suck. The Jets draft a QB high, he sucks. Mid rounds? They always suck. Late rounds? The Jets never land one that's any good. That's how rooting for this cursed organization works. It's not going to happen. Anyone that's ever any good we play our way out of drafting or pass on them, and anyone that sucks you can be sure we are going to draft them. It doesn't matter who owns the team, who the GM is, or which jabroni is doing the scouting. We're trapped in perpetual Thunderdome and that's just gonna be how it is forever.

[SAR I]

On 1/25/2017 at 11:24 AM, Jetster said:

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

The only times they have been beaten is if they faced an above average defense & at least a mediocre QB. Steelers tried to beat them with a way to young secondary & a 39 year old pass rusher,lol. Houston could have beat them if they even had a semblance of a decent QB.

This is not just a problem with the Jets, it's a problem with the entire NFL.  My opinion, the reason ratings are off is because of this:  Futility.

The NFL is no longer competitive.  Since 1986, only 5 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  Go back to 1976, only 6 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  If you're not one of those 5 franchises you're dead, you have zero chance.  Elway, Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady, that's it, they win it all.  Flacco?  He's the exception, apparently once every 40 years a nothing quarterback can get you to the promised land.

The NFL has made the passing game too important and protected its quarterbacks too well.  Tom Brady is no longer must-see-TV on an October Thursday when you're a Jaguars, Browns, Jets, or Bengals fan.  No need to witness the inevitable.  The only way the NFL fixes itself is to neutralize the fact that there aren't enough great quarterbacks to sustain competitive balance.

SAR I

[TuscanyTile2]

7 minutes ago, SAR I said:

This is not just a problem with the Jets, it's a problem with the entire NFL.  My opinion, the reason ratings are off is because of this:  Futility.

The NFL is no longer competitive.  Since 1986, only 5 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  Go back to 1976, only 6 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  If you're not one of those 5 franchises you're dead, you have zero chance.  Elway, Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady, that's it, they win it all.  Flacco?  He's the exception, apparently once every 40 years a nothing quarterback can get you to the promised land.

The NFL has made the passing game too important and protected its quarterbacks too well.  Tom Brady is no longer must-see-TV on an October Thursday when you're a Jaguars, Browns, Jets, or Bengals fan.  No need to witness the inevitable.  The only way the NFL fixes itself is to neutralize the fact that there aren't enough great quarterbacks to sustain competitive balance.

SAR I

Trent Dilfer is the exception.  Flacco is a solid QB.

[Jet Nut]

On 1/25/2017 at 11:24 AM, Jetster said:

Nothing else matters regarding the NY Jets!

Did you guys see that in the last 15 Superbowls the AFC has had 4 QBs, Brady, Big Ben, Payton Manning in all but 2 games (Flacco/Gannon)

So anyone that doesn't think tanking is a strategy that should have been considered a few times at the end of the year is an idiot. This is a perfect example of Woody Johnson just being a complete airhead regarding this team he owns. You don't have to tank intentionally, you put out a mandate on your coach that they play as many young players as possible to get a look. Perfect example was that KC game. We won in freaking overtime, big whoop! Matt Ryan was the consensus beat QB in the draft, coached by Tom Coughlin in a pro offense. You tank in this league for QBs. Look at the QBs Tom Brady & BB have faced in the AFC east for the past 16 years! Horrific!

The only times they have been beaten is if they faced an above average defense & at least a mediocre QB. Steelers tried to beat them with a way to young secondary & a 39 year old pass rusher,lol. Houston could have beat them if they even had a semblance of a decent QB.

You don't have to tank intentionally, you force the HC to play shltty players in order to lose games?  Lol.  Ok.

And its,Woody who is a complete airhead.  How many different ways can you say we should tank a season without saying it?  

Coaches and teams don't tank.  

[Jet Fan RI]

8 hours ago, SAR I said:

This is not just a problem with the Jets, it's a problem with the entire NFL.  My opinion, the reason ratings are off is because of this:  Futility.

The NFL is no longer competitive.  Since 1986, only 5 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  Go back to 1976, only 6 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  If you're not one of those 5 franchises you're dead, you have zero chance.  Elway, Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady, that's it, they win it all.  Flacco?  He's the exception, apparently once every 40 years a nothing quarterback can get you to the promised land.

The NFL has made the passing game too important and protected its quarterbacks too well.  Tom Brady is no longer must-see-TV on an October Thursday when you're a Jaguars, Browns, Jets, or Bengals fan.  No need to witness the inevitable.  The only way the NFL fixes itself is to neutralize the fact that there aren't enough great quarterbacks to sustain competitive balance.

SAR I

Interesting idea. But if what you are saying is true, it should apply to the entire league. So, what about the NFC? I assume you've examined the history of both conferences, and I also assume you found what you said about the AFC does not apply to the NFC. If the league is not competitive, why should it be different for the NFC?

[SAR I]

1 hour ago, Jet Fan RI said:

Interesting idea. But if what you are saying is true, it should apply to the entire league. So, what about the NFC? I assume you've examined the history of both conferences, and I also assume you found what you said about the AFC does not apply to the NFC. If the league is not competitive, why should it be different for the NFC?

Don't know.  The Jets play in the AFC so it's the AFC I'm concerned with.

SAR I

[Jetster]

10 hours ago, Jetknowledge said:

Honestly the Bowles hate , woody hate, player hate, is irrelevant because if we had a luck or Ryan or cam. Or any elite qb. We would be a wild card team every year unless we build up the roster and past the pats but with no passing attack we're horrible. Point blank. That's reality. Can't blame Bowles. Mac. Or woody. The past regimes put us in this situation. Until they get the qb I don't believe the rebuild is even started 

Ok, what's your excuse for the defense being ranked bottom 3 then? Don't blame all of that on the offense, look at the Colt game! We were down 14 nothing on like 6 offensive plays by Luck.

[Jetster]

10 hours ago, SAR I said:

This is not just a problem with the Jets, it's a problem with the entire NFL.  My opinion, the reason ratings are off is because of this:  Futility.

The NFL is no longer competitive.  Since 1986, only 5 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  Go back to 1976, only 6 AFC franchises have won the Super Bowl.  If you're not one of those 5 franchises you're dead, you have zero chance.  Elway, Manning, Roethlisberger, Brady, that's it, they win it all.  Flacco?  He's the exception, apparently once every 40 years a nothing quarterback can get you to the promised land.

The NFL has made the passing game too important and protected its quarterbacks too well.  Tom Brady is no longer must-see-TV on an October Thursday when you're a Jaguars, Browns, Jets, or Bengals fan.  No need to witness the inevitable.  The only way the NFL fixes itself is to neutralize the fact that there aren't enough great quarterbacks to sustain competitive balance.

SAR I

I agree. It's bad football, one good game in the playoffs because the 2 QBs were elite & both defenses were average. Steelers had zero chance vs Brady in Gillette for 3 reasons. First, Brady regardless of his beef with Goodell is the NFLs golden child. They went 3 quarters without 1 penalty, like always in Gillette the Pats Oline grabs & holds on and Brady stands there for 7 seconds eating a ham sandwich. 2 the Steelers secondary was too young & inexperienced for the Pats sophisticated pick & dunk offense. And 3 the Steelers edge rusher is the oldest player in the league, lol. 

Falcons have a chance for 5 reasons. One, Matt Ryan is pretty damn good. Two, Julio Jones is rested and he's a BEAST! Three, the Pats D will have to respect the Falcons passing game, so they will be spread out a lot more than what you see when the Jets & our lame QBs play them. Four, the 2 Falcon RBs are excellent at getting to the edges & 1 cutting up field, spread Ninkovic & Long wide, and force them to hold the edges with zero help! Five, Vic Beasley! He's a young stud & he'll force a couple of holding calls the refs won't be able to ignore on the big stage. 

Pats will be tough to beat, but the Falcons definitely have a chance if they jump on top force the Pats to play catchup with a team that might have a better offense than they do. Much different than playing the AFC east & even the Steelers were struggling on offense during their winning streak. Falcons offense is for real & they are very confident. Don't be surprised if Hooper the TE & the fullback make some huge wide open plays in this game, Kyle Shanahan is an excellent OC, Pats can't cover everybody & he knows damn well BB & Patricia play the "lets see if others can make plays" game. This team can & Shanahans like his Dad, he'll go to it until you stop it. What a thought right? Stick with what works.

[Jet Fan RI]

3 hours ago, SAR I said:

Don't know.  The Jets play in the AFC so it's the AFC I'm concerned with.

SAR I

Well, the Jets also play NFC teams, so it's important to include that conference in the discussion.