Hot Take Alert: Pro Football is boring

[HawkeyeJet]

As I wallow in sorrow of another crushing Jets loss, watching these MNF games, I’ve come to the realization that pro football is a boring product.

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have been the punch line(rightfully so) for many college football takes because of their complete lack of offense and conservative nature.  The thing is, like 15-20 nfl teams are in similar boats.  Unimaginative, ultra conservative and boring to watch.  

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

You may not be willing to admit it, but deep down you agree.

[TuscanyTile2]

Just now, HawkeyeJet said:

As I wallow in sorrow of another crushing Jets loss, watching these MNF games, I’ve come to the realization that pro football is a boring product.

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have been the punch line(rightfully so) for many college football takes because of their complete lack of offense and conservative nature.  The thing is, like 15-20 nfl teams are in similar boats.  Unimaginative, ultra conservative and boring to watch.  

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

You may not be willing to admit it, but deep down you agree.

Absolutely.  There are way too many games like what we saw in the Jet game yesterday.  Could you imagine sitting through that if you didn't care about either team?

[HighPitch]

I agree more and more its become a woosey sport full of politics 

[The Voice of Reason]

2 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

As I wallow in sorrow of another crushing Jets loss, watching these MNF games, I’ve come to the realization that pro football is a boring product.

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have been the punch line(rightfully so) for many college football takes because of their complete lack of offense and conservative nature.  The thing is, like 15-20 nfl teams are in similar boats.  Unimaginative, ultra conservative and boring to watch.  

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

You may not be willing to admit it, but deep down you agree.

Honestly I just don't care anymore... The jets sucked the life out of football... I thought the jets were going to have an offense... All I see is a bunch of trash each week 

[Grandy]

Personally, my full attention is on the Mets right now. Been such an exhilarating ride and I adore the team.

I really think the quality of the NFL product has diminished, and it's part of the reason why my football enthusiasm is lower than usual even though we came into this season with the highest hopes in over a decade. I agree that college games, especially good rivalries are consistently better games. Refball is really hurting the NFL I think.

I also think a big part of it is lower offense, but not in a traditional way. It seems like scoring is lower not because of great and creative defensive schemes, but pure sloppiness.

 

[RoadFan]

I would think the Vikings v. Packers game was pretty wild?

That said, you have a point.

The flip side is there is a reason for the phrase “any given Sunday” which makes the NFL’s parity intriguing.
 

No such thing as ‘any given Saturday’ when Texas is beating LA-Monroe by fifty…

[BreeceHallofFame]

Then leave instead of sh*tting on the sport that this forum is about 

[HawkeyeJet]

1 minute ago, Grandy said:

Personally, my full attention is on the Mets right now. Been such an exhilarating ride and I adore the team.

I really think the quality of the NFL product has diminished, and it's part of the reason why my football enthusiasm is lower than usual even though we came into this season with the highest hopes in over a decade. I agree that college games, especially good rivalries are consistently better games. Refball is really hurting the NFL I think.

 

Fair point about the refs.  I think they have jumped the shark with player safety and it’s really hurting the product. 

[HawkeyeJet]

1 minute ago, BreeceHallofFame said:

Then leave instead of sh*tting on the sport that this forum is about 

Lighten up, Francis.

[Grandy]

4 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

Fair point about the refs.  I think they have jumped the shark with player safety and it’s really hurting the product. 

The player safety thing was always going to be tricky. I think the on-field product was better before all the rules, but I definitely would rather a diminished product with less young men getting brain damage. I wish the technology existed for football to be played traditionally without head injuries but that seems fairytale. I'm just not sure how this issue gets resolved and it makes me doubt the NFL retaining king status over American sports.

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

Ban Cover 2!!

[Jet_Engine1]

15 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

As I wallow in sorrow of another crushing Jets loss, watching these MNF games, I’ve come to the realization that pro football is a boring product.

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have been the punch line(rightfully so) for many college football takes because of their complete lack of offense and conservative nature.  The thing is, like 15-20 nfl teams are in similar boats.  Unimaginative, ultra conservative and boring to watch.  

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

You may not be willing to admit it, but deep down you agree.

Has been for a few years now. I watch out of stubbornness and habit.

[Rich Thornburgh]

[Joe W. Namath]

15 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

As I wallow in sorrow of another crushing Jets loss, watching these MNF games, I’ve come to the realization that pro football is a boring product.

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have been the punch line(rightfully so) for many college football takes because of their complete lack of offense and conservative nature.  The thing is, like 15-20 nfl teams are in similar boats.  Unimaginative, ultra conservative and boring to watch.  

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

You may not be willing to admit it, but deep down you agree.

Probably not the best time to post this as you have an awesome lions/seahawks game going on.

 

[dbatesman]

15 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

The most recent Super Bowl was decided in the waning seconds of overtime. Git lawst

[Jet_Engine1]

9 minutes ago, BreeceHallofFame said:

Then leave instead of sh*tting on the sport that this forum is about 

[Matt39]

The officiating has taken a major toll on the sport. The league office is insistent on the flags. 

[Rochester Jets]

Like how many of us have complained about the lack of starters playing in the preseason for the Jets, I wonder how many other teams are doing the same thing?  That, coupled with all of the changes to training camp in recent years, and I think we’re seeing the effect of players just not ready for the regular season to the extent that they were in years past.  Lots of sloppy football across the board it seems.

[Fantasy Island]

You are right our 2 wins are against two teams that have a combined win total of 1.

Jets have one of the easiest schedules in the league and we are 2-2.  It is a league where 2 teams get all the calls: KC Swifts and the SF 69ers.  The rest of the league is just filler.

[Green Ghost]

Illegal Gambling was what made pro football the #1 sport years ago, and Fantasy football and legalized betting has taken it next level, but the product itself stinks.

Broadcasts are barely watchable with the incessant commercial breaks, and I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would brave the traffic, cost of parking, tickets and concessions to go sit in the rain or cold to watch a game in person… forget the ripoff season tickets have become (and I’m saying this as someone who had 4 seats at Jet games for over 20 years. I finally gave them up the year before the PSL’s when I moved down to SC) paying for meaningless PS games and sloppy play the first 4-5 weeks? No thanks.

[Beerfish]

It's been worse than college for many years.

Just like college basketball is far superior to the NBA

[JiFtheOracle]

Its an absolutely terrible product.  I've been saying this for years.  It's like the pet rock when you think about it.

[Bugg]

24 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

As I wallow in sorrow of another crushing Jets loss, watching these MNF games, I’ve come to the realization that pro football is a boring product.

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have been the punch line(rightfully so) for many college football takes because of their complete lack of offense and conservative nature.  The thing is, like 15-20 nfl teams are in similar boats.  Unimaginative, ultra conservative and boring to watch.  

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

You may not be willing to admit it, but deep down you agree.

Between Bama/GA and that abomination of a game yesterday, like 2 different sports. 

[Larz]

bad offense is boring.  
 

Remember who ushered in this wave of Tampa-2, 2 deep to stop big plays ?

Super Bowl LV?

 

[PS17]

13 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

The officiating has taken a major toll on the sport. The league office is insistent on the flags. 

They just don’t get it at all and it’s alarming.

[Cyberjet]

Totally agree. The game is choppy - stop and go/ too many adds/ too many penalties. It’s all about glitz and highlights - packaging the game. 
 

Though it will never happen- think how so much better it would be if the game had no ads or markedly less. Just get up to the line of scrimmage and continually play. No tv timeouts. Finish the game in 2 hours. 
 

most games are boring 

[TuscanyTile2]

22 minutes ago, Rich Thornburgh said:

Woody is so easy to root against.  That's the one saving grace when we stink.  Of course he makes billions so he probably couldn't care less.

[Cyberjet]

I think what changed the game for the worse was allowing OLinemen use their hands to hold onto jerseys. Before that they were only allowed to punch and use their arms and legs to offset lineman. The holding call was not much of a factor before that

[Larz]

This Dan Casey guy is a great follow. He’s all over trends in the league. 
 

 

[jeremy2020]

40 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

As I wallow in sorrow of another crushing Jets loss, watching these MNF games, I’ve come to the realization that pro football is a boring product.

My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have been the punch line(rightfully so) for many college football takes because of their complete lack of offense and conservative nature.  The thing is, like 15-20 nfl teams are in similar boats.  Unimaginative, ultra conservative and boring to watch.  

The NFL could never match that Bama/Georgia game from a sheer excitement or atmosphere stand point.  Not even close.

You may not be willing to admit it, but deep down you agree.

The last two seasons have been pretty bad. I guess those people on here who told me they wanted "defensive" football back are happy though..

[Jack Straw]

It's a really bad product across the league right now.

On a more local level - with the Knicks, Rangers, Yankees, Mets, Devils, and Islanders being relevant right now, Woody Johnson is f*cked if this season goes the way I expect it to go.

[Larz]

 

[THE BARON]

Real simple.  When you combine big money with sport/entertainment, eventually the entertainment value and actual sport gets whittled down to become a vapid product.

A few examples.  Spend time switching between the major NYC area commercial pop/rock radio stations.  You will hear the same very small batch of songs over and over and over.  The commercials are more entertaining than the handful of overplayed songs.  Its product and nothing but product.  

Another sport I have been into and participated in myself is drag racing.  I raced in one of the sportsman classes.  Back in the late 70's the professional classes were exciting.  You didn't have to be a part of a multi million dollar outfit to run a fuel car.  These days, you see the same half dozen drivers over and over and over.  It is totally commercial now.  The circus left town.  Same deal with Formula 1.  The cars and drivers have no personality or flair.  It has all become sterilized product like the NFL.

The NFL is not sport.  It's sterilized product. 

 

[Rich Thornburgh]

39 minutes ago, TuscanyTile2 said:

Woody is so easy to root against.  That's the one saving grace when we stink.  Of course he makes billions so he probably couldn't care less.

The jets are the only good investment he ever made on his own and that was done using the trust fund

[Rich Thornburgh]

39 minutes ago, Cyberjet said:

I think what changed the game for the worse was allowing OLinemen use their hands to hold onto jerseys. Before that they were only allowed to punch and use their arms and legs to offset lineman. The holding call was not much of a factor before that

They changed the rules to favor passing 20 years ago because Peyton Manning complained the patriots DBs held his receivers every play in the AFCG.  
 

Ofcourse this plus the endless enforcement of subjective PI calls has made the NFL kind of a joke.  In the past couple years teams decided to not play first string offensive players the entire preseason which means the first month of the regular season is a mess.