Link: How Football Stopped Being Fun

RTR91 · Sep 19, 2017

First, I get many of you will want to make a comment about the title of the article and solely focus on it. Look past it and read the article.

Second, yes it's about the NFL. I know many of you hate the NFL and will be sure to tell us. Try not to. Still read the article.

Finally and most important - I'm posting this because of the offense. This might explain some of what we've seen through three weeks with the Alabama offense. And it also hits on teams going back to a run game to combat how defenses are transitioning to defend today's offenses, which is what many have wondered would happen. If that does happen, we'll begin to see it trickle down to the college level.

Link

We are living in the golden age of failed completions, a statistic as grim as it sounds. Tracked by Football Outsiders, failed completions occur when a team doesn’t get 45 percent of the yards it needs on first down, 60 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third or fourth down. The stat goes back to 1989, and last season Joe Flacco set the record with 144. Nothing encapsulates this era of football as well as the failed completion: allegedly a success, but ultimately a bleak disappointment.

78Alum · Sep 19, 2017

The NFL may not be fun. I do not really care. However, I must say I happen to think the football I have been watching at Bama for the last decade is dang pretty fun to me... :cool2:

Alasippi · Sep 19, 2017

This article is very true actually.
To me, Bama is now basically running New England's offense, which is absolutely awesome to me. It works.
But it's basically dinks and dunks.
Example. We had two touchdown passes of over fifty yards Saturday night, yet how far was the ball thrown before Calvin or Foster caught it?
Ten-fifteen yards?
It's definitely not as exciting as the bomb Florida threw against Tennessee, but it is indeed a heck of a lot more efficient.
To me though....YES...it's fun! It's just modern teams adapting to the style of play they have no choice but to adapt to.
The game EVOLVES! And it just gets better and better!
Hey, I remember when absolutely nobody could stop the wishbone offense, and I mean, NOBODY!
Guess what? They figured it out...and that's where the fun is

JDCrimson · Sep 19, 2017

It's only in this era that a guy like Andy Dalton has a job as a starting QB.

Let's see it all started with limiting the hits on the QB which lead to the short drops, quick release timing throws, for short yardage. Then the problem was the WRs usually couldn't get enough separation until the receiver was about 8yds downfield. Well to fix this new problem the league decided to implement no touch coverage by DBS which allowed the receivers to get better separation earlier in the route. Viola, you have what you have now. Which has lead to the Clemson slow crossing routes with a pick designed get the separation so you can basically take a converted DB into a QB who still can complete over 60% of his passes.

Which for the football purists like coach, the game has basically evolved into an assault on the rules and challenging of the refs knowing that no one wants to see a penalty called every play and the need to get the game done in 4hrs. It's not about developing your craft. Block downfield on every play because they can't call it everytime.

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JaxTider · Sep 19, 2017

Fascinating. I don't particularly like dinks and dunks. I think dbs should be allowed contact until the ball is in the air, like back in the day.

All in all, I think this explains why many people prefer the college game.

JDCrimson · Sep 19, 2017

Even further in the paradigm of the current rules I now see why CNS coaches the DBs the way he does. The only way to limit contact and spacing now is to not take your eyes off the WR and run with him stride for stride. The old way of riding the WR's hip with constant contact while looking back for the ball is considered PI but so is not turning to make a play on the ball. Plus the way we teach now is probably more effective against the back shoulder throw because once your in contact with the WR you can't move around him sort of like a post up move in basketball.

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Redwood Forrest · Sep 20, 2017

To me a good football game is a traditional football game. Keep your Star Wars Offense. Keep your Barnam & Bailey crap.

Redwood approves this reply.

note: I despise the last few seconds when they lateral the ball back and forth and I hate the Hail Mary too. Just how many receivers can be in the end zone anyway? What happened to too many players downfield?

CajunCrimson · Sep 20, 2017

The fullback position is going to have a resurgence.....within the next few years....

250lb DL.....they are crazy if they don't.

Basketball is losing their forwards to football ....in the form of DLs and TEs

AlexanderFan · Sep 20, 2017

Alasippi said:
This article is very true actually.
To me, Bama is now basically running New England's offense, which is absolutely awesome to me. It works.
But it's basically dinks and dunks.
Example. We had two touchdown passes of over fifty yards Saturday night, yet how far was the ball thrown before Calvin or Foster caught it?
Ten-fifteen yards?
It's definitely not as exciting as the bomb Florida threw against Tennessee, but it is indeed a heck of a lot more efficient.
To me though....YES...it's fun! It's just modern teams adapting to the style of play they have no choice but to adapt to.
The game EVOLVES! And it just gets better and better!
Hey, I remember when absolutely nobody could stop the wishbone offense, and I mean, NOBODY!
Guess what? They figured it out...and that's where the fun is

This is not evolution. This is rule changing and absolute rule ignoring to provide exciting offensive plays to bring in casual fans to increase revenue. There's no evolutionary answer to referees allowing the offense to break the fundamental rules of the game.

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RTR91 · Sep 20, 2017

AlexanderFan said:
This is not evolution. This is rule changing and absolute rule ignoring to provide exciting offensive plays to bring in casual fans to increase revenue. There's no evolutionary answer to referees allowing the offense to break the fundamental rules of the game.

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Did you read the article? The rule changes was addressed.

JBama_in_PCOLA · Sep 20, 2017

The NFL has to have great teams playing for me to watch. I think the only game I watched was Atlanta and Green Bay and I still only watched half of that. Crazy how the game has gotten a bit worse over the years.

Bamabuzzard · Sep 20, 2017

As with college, the NFL's rules to promote offense (passing) has shifted waaaay too far in favor of the offense that it's caused an imbalance within the game. There's no incentive for a team to have a punishing run game anymore. Why do that when you can dink and dunk, get a pass interference called on 1 out of every 3 passes and run pick plays all the way down the field and into the endzone? The game has become predictable and borderline boring for both NFL and college.

AlexanderFan · Sep 20, 2017

RTR91 said:
Did you read the article? The rule changes was addressed.

I was responding to Sip's idea that you can evolve around what's happening in the college game.

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bamachile · Sep 20, 2017

Stopped caring about NFL football years ago. I only hope that college doesn't follow. 55-49 scores excite some people more than me, I suppose. I prefer an old-fashioned 17-14 or 13-10 slobber-knocker.

RTR91 · Sep 20, 2017

AlexanderFan said:
I was responding to Sip's idea that you can evolve around what's happening in the college game.

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But he's right. The game has evolved. We face it every week. How do teams prevent our pass rush? Quick passes. And teams will eventually start using the run game more because DL are smaller.

Bamabuzzard · Sep 20, 2017

bamachile said:
Stopped caring about NFL football years ago. I only hope that college doesn't follow. 55-49 scores excite some people more than me, I suppose. I prefer an old-fashioned 17-14 or 13-10 slobber-knocker.

A lot of what's being complained about in the article started in highschool and has trickled its way up to the NFL. The hurry up, no huddle spread offenses that began in HS is where a lot of this began. These offenses allow teams with less talent, smaller players to compete with more talented bigger teams . We saw it several years ago in college when kids coming out of HS thad never been in a huddle, under center or never had to read a defense. Consequently, you had offensive linemen who never had to block for longer than 1/2 a second and never learned the fundamentals of the game. Many colleges rather than having to reteach all these kids just decided to adopt the offenses these kids were used to. It was the easiest way and path of least resistance. It's basically taken over college football. You can probably count on ten fingers the number of D1/FBS football programs that don't run the HUNH or some version of it. Consequently quarterbacks never learn to truly "read" a defense and offensive linemen never learn to truly block. Now it's in the NFL and the quality of the game has suffered because of it.

RT27 · Sep 20, 2017

My biggest issue with NFL, not enough runs or misdirection, game is sooooooooo boring. Pass to much, run to little, and so damn predictable. Run up gut, drop back and pass. NO IMAGINATION, mainly cause you have the best players few mistakes like baseball. Boring show me college where they are still learning and every play is not so predictable. Makes for more excitement. Last real upset in NFL was when???????? Bookies love it they can almost predict scores perfectly.

Bamabuzzard · Sep 20, 2017

RT27 said:
My biggest issue with NFL, not enough runs or misdirection, game is sooooooooo boring. Pass to much, run to little, and so damn predictable. Run up gut, drop back and pass. NO IMAGINATION, mainly cause you have the best players few mistakes like baseball. Boring show me college where they are still learning and every play is not so predictable. Makes for more excitement. Last real upset in NFL was when???????? Bookies love it they can almost predict scores perfectly.

Rules can heavily dictate the style of play teams use. With the pass happy incentive rules in play now, there's almost zero incentive for teams to even bother with a good running game. It's why RB's value have plummeted in the draft and on the FA market.

B1GTide · Sep 20, 2017

RT27 said:
My biggest issue with NFL, not enough runs or misdirection, game is sooooooooo boring. Pass to much, run to little, and so damn predictable. Run up gut, drop back and pass. NO IMAGINATION, mainly cause you have the best players few mistakes like baseball. Boring show me college where they are still learning and every play is not so predictable. Makes for more excitement. Last real upset in NFL was when???????? Bookies love it they can almost predict scores perfectly.

If the game was half as predictable as you suggest, Vegas would stop taking bets because they would be losing their shirts.

CrimsonForce · Sep 20, 2017

RT27 said:
My biggest issue with NFL, not enough runs or misdirection, game is sooooooooo boring. Pass to much, run to little, and so damn predictable. Run up gut, drop back and pass. NO IMAGINATION, mainly cause you have the best players few mistakes like baseball. Boring show me college where they are still learning and every play is not so predictable. Makes for more excitement. Last real upset in NFL was when???????? Bookies love it they can almost predict scores perfectly.

This post is laughable for so many reasons. The NFL has much more parity than college football. In the NFL, regardless of who the 2 teams are, either team has a chance to win. So even if the Patriots are playing the Browns or Jets there's a chance the Patriots could lose. If Alabama's playing one of the bottom teams in the FBS that team has no chance of winning. I like college football (slightly) more than the NFL but to act like there's no drama or intrigue IRT the NFL is disingenuous at worst and ignorance at best..

Link: How Football Stopped Being Fun

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