I am starting to Dislike todays NFL

Some facts:
- Average pts per game were the lowest in 2022 since 2009
- yds per game were the lowest since 2011
- rushing yd per game were the highest since 1987
- Avg QB Rating was down and sacks were up

Maybe, just maybe, this dislike of “todays NFL” reflects the fact that until recently the Steelers had a QB and an offense that could keep up with the big dogs, and the last 2 yrs they haven’t.

The league hasn’t gotten more “offensive” the last 4-5 yrs, but the Steelers have dropped from a top10 offense to bottom half. And that enlarging gap might explain the dislike

 

I’ve seen too many post season games in the last 5-7 years that were basically track meets with 0 defense.

 

Sometimes they wait until the last moment to go down and the defender already has momentum going for them. Penalty on D


Here's Pickett doing to it in college. It's so nuance when it can be called or not, it's up to ref, even in NFL.

 

Not true.


Remove Chris Jones AFC Championship Performance against the Bengals and the Chiefs are not in the Super Bowl. American Gridiron Football remains the ultimate team sport. I do agree it is getting too Offense heavy though.

 

That play prompted the NCAA to make a rule prohibiting the fake slide the very next week.

 

Still cost the other team a TD. It's like PI against defender, judgment call. It seems a more common penalty against the D for hitting the QB in a slide.

 

They can according to @Formerscribe

 

Not doing something that isn’t required because you don’t like it is hardly burying your head in the sand

 

They can't slide, and must stop all hits like a Qb. Different rules.
A Qb slides a play is automatically done.
Any other player must be touched at least, and You see how they are touched....by players falling as hard as possible most times on them.

 

Big difference. I would go more into it, but I just did.

 

Again different rules. A Qb slides, and the play is automatically over. ...You can't even hit one of You were already tryingtobefor the slide most of the times.......there is no such rule for any other player.....all the rest must at least be touched.....so even in giving themselves up they get at least(most of the time) landed on.

 

You're wrong, period. Any player can give himself up by sliding feet first. He doesn't need to be touched and if someone falls on him, it will be flagged. The rules are literally the same.

 

I attend the Hershey Bear games as wel

 

No they can't.
Name me one player outside of a Qb that a team would allow to slide, and automatically stop the yards gained.....as soon as He starts a slide.
A Qb can do it everytime, but let's say Najee.....everytime He was going to be Hit slides. How long do You think He would be starting in the NFL. Yes the rule states, anyone can slide, but who , but a Qb would keep their jobs if they did it on most plays????

 

That is not what you said. You very clearly said the rule is different for QB's, which is wrong. The rule doesn't explicitly state QB's. It states any player can give himself up by sliding. You also said they must be touched. Also wrong. They don't need to be touched.

Whether players do it or not is a design of the game, it has nothing to do with the rules. RB's are expected to fight for every yard they can get. Coaches don't want QB's getting hit if it can be avoided.

 

It is a rule.....Rule is NO coach would allow it outside of a Qb.
You honestly believe I wouldn't not only know the rule , but look it up before I post this yesterday???
The rule is .....nobody else can do it , but a Qb ,and keep their job. , and Yes they must be touched if not sliding. This is not college.

 

I think if some football fan time traveled from the 1960`s to this year and watched the S.B., I think first question would be, why is every defensive player tackling so gentle?

 

Distracted by the gorillas, maybe?

I also feel the game’s gotten score- and stats-happy, but I don’t have an answer.

 

So true, the QBs relaxed with a Fresca and smoke after the pounding they took. Len's even flaming the end of the cig with that deep inhaling.

 

Baseball changed the game after Bob Gibson's insane 1968 season.


https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-baseball-pitching-mound-lowered-20190207-story.html

Gibson started 34 games that season and went the full nine innings in 28 of them. He had 13 shutouts and 268 strikeouts. In one stretch from June 6 to July 30, he won 11 straight starts — all of them complete games — and allowed only three runs.

But Gibson was only the tip of spear in baseball's first "Year of the Pitcher." Twenty-two pitchers had sub-2.00 earned run averages. Gibson's was an Earth-shattering 1.12, the lowest in modern baseball history.

"Defense now dominates offense to the point of extinction," wrote Rex Lardner in the New York Times, speculating that by 1971 no-hitters would be common and fans would celebrate the occasional foul ball. "With the batter being as helpless as he is," Lardner wrote, "the game has become largely one of pitcher throwing to catcher and catcher throwing back."

The resulting lack of offense had thrown baseball into a crisis. Seven teams hit .230 or lower. The Yankees as a team batted .214. The big league average ERA that season was 2.98, more than a run less than 2018′s mark. Teams combined to score 6.8 runs per game in '68. (Last year, they scored 8.8 on average.)

"There is ample evidence that the public is getting a wee bit tired of all these 'pitchers duels,'" wrote The Washington Post's Bob Addie in late 1968.

So after the season, MLB officials lowered the mound to 10 inches and shrank the strike zone to its modern size. The changes were made, according to one wire service, "to add more enjoyment for the fans and more offense in the games which the pitchers dominated in both the National and American leagues this past season."

 

Perhaps this thread should have been chaptered under Festivus: The Airing of All Grievances thread? As I understand though, SDOT still has a few seats left on the 2023 Boycott Train. Grab em while you still can. Leave all your worries behind. Never lose sleep again over things you can't control. Me, I've been watching football longer than most in these parts and I really enjoyed the game, just as I did the 2009 SB.

 

I believe most of them would say what's with all those pads and plastic helmets?

 

A fan time travelling from the ‘60s to watch todays NFL would say:
- where’s the dirt baseball infield that’s usually on the 30 yd line?
- Geez these guys are big! Geez they’re fast too!
- Man, I wish we hadn’t invented instant replay.
- Sh$t, these games take nearly 4 hrs! They were always less than 3.

 

Maybe just maybe all sarcasm aside you could be wrong in your observation. I am grounded in my expectations of the Steelers Offense. I like smash mouth defensive football. Todays NFL is not that. You can reference all of the stats you want. I can see with my own eyes that the integrity of the game is dwindling away. Smith the bone thin WR from Philadelphia should not be able to thrive in a contact sport, but he does because the rules protect and favor players like him. The high Pedigree QB’s and the way those QB’s are refereed are what determines the outcomes of games today. I said it in another post. Mahomes is refereed the same way Lebron James is in the NBA. He is viewed as an asset to the NFL and they just aren’t going to let him degrade his value within the game because that means lost revenue to the NFL and the NFL can’t have their image hurt even if it means the integrity of the game is compromised.

Goodall hides behind the veil of player safety for rule changes but his real motive was exposed when he expanded the number of regular season games against the wishes of the NFL Players. Why did he do that, because he can make more money and that is what it is all about.
So now Mahomes gets hurt with a high ankle sprain right before the playoffs and they realize this could have a profound impact on people tuning into the games if their prized assets isn’t available. So they now they are considering adding a rule that penalizes the hip tackle which injured Mahomes. That my friend is absolutely impacting the integrity of the game. The NFL realized the importance of a Super Star at the QB position with Brady. It was always important but it took on a different level with Brady.

Those stats you reference above certainly aren’t because defenses are playing better. The rushing yds per game is up because QB’s and the RPO is so prevalent in todays NFL. QB rating is down because we don’t have the level of talent we did five years ago at that position. Sacks are up because we have more passing in the NFL today than we ever have plus one additional game. But stats can be cherry picked to always support a narrative. Just simply watching a game is enough to understand it is changing for the worse.