The NFL was unwatchable this year
If you were interested in the quality of play—watched only out of Pavlovian habit or fantasy football or gambling—then the 2012 season ranks among the worst. Not as bad as the 2011 season, in which a Pop Warner second-stringer could have passed for 5,000 yards because of defenses neutered by rule changes and stripped of aggression. But close.
On Monday seven coaches got fired, and it should have been eight, with the New York Jets’ beyond-bombastic Rex Ryan. Owner impatience is one reason, but so were listless teams that played such quarterback studs as Ryan Fitzpatrick, Nick Foles, Brady Quinn, and roughly 35 different ones from the Arizona Cardinals.
The NFL is troubled. It’s not because of concussions or violence off the field or the league’s own politically correct, pussy-whipped ad campaign for improved safety. It is because the product itself is largely unwatchable, too many dull teams playing too many other dull teams, couch catatonia any time the New York Jets are on, the only excitement now guessing the halftime entertainment at the Super Bowl and which performer will trip or simply keel over from old age. Or wondering if the day will ever come that Tim Tebow throws an incomplete pass still in-bounds.
Blowback
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Go to hell, Buzz.
I’ll never forgive this douchenozzle for how disrespectful and downright mendacious he was in his attack of Will Leitch on Bob Costas’s show. He’s an over-important, self-righteous twit.
Good Solid B-Plus on January 2, 2013 at 10:03 PM
Buzz, there is a solution to your problem….go buy the 1955 season on tape and give us all a tally on how many trap plays you could watch before throwing your beer through the TV screen.
Limerick on January 2, 2013 at 10:10 PM
The NFL has gone the way of the NBA where flashy players only care about making the ESPN highlight real and could care less about the team. There are less than a handfull of teams that still function as one unit. A typical NFL player these days fails at their assignment 9 out of 10 plays and then when he finally does get around to making a play he jumps up and down and prances around like an idiot. Offensive tackles literally horse-collar defensive ends on every passing down. Yeah…I’m thinking the NFL sucks pretty bad these days.
OxyCon on January 2, 2013 at 10:11 PM
It got a lot better after Week 3. For the most part, no complaints from me.
22044 on January 2, 2013 at 10:20 PM
As a Falcons fan I’m enjoying the season. Postseason is another story.
Donald Draper on January 2, 2013 at 10:26 PM
Rare that I agree with anything that shows up on the Daily Beast, but in general, the NFL has become the Obama league- over-regulated to a spectacular degree. The helmet-to-helmet calls are utterly ridiculous. Too often the defender does everything right and circumstance beyond his control -like the receiver ducking as he’s about to be hit- cause an inconsequential contact of plastic on plastic. Often it’s after the helmet lands on the chest first, then movement causes a brush of helmets.
Then comes the fines and suspensions. Almost always the play is flagged on the field and in inconsequential and unavoidable contact costs a team 15 yards, but ten the player gets some ridiculous fine and potentially a suspension. Where does all that fine money go, by the way?
The reason for this is tort. I guess it’s only a matter of time before the ambulance-chasers will be representing retired boxers and MMA fighters.
BKeyser on January 2, 2013 at 10:43 PM
I love football. I am crazy about football. But I barely watched any NFL this season.
myrenovations on January 2, 2013 at 10:43 PM
If there was one thing I could change about football, it’d be abolishing the stupid “football move” rule of establishing possession. Hands on the ball and establish control. That’s all you should need for a completed pass. And if it comes out after that, it’s a fumble.
Oh, and move the kickoff 5 yards back. Kickoffs used to be exciting.
Stoic Patriot on January 2, 2013 at 11:11 PM
“Waahhhh, my team is not in the playoffs so this year was a bust for everyone.”
Knott Buyinit on January 2, 2013 at 11:14 PM
As a 49ers fan I can’t complain. If not for the replacement refs, my team would be playing a road wildcard game this weekend.
aunursa on January 2, 2013 at 11:14 PM
Check that. A home wildcard game.
aunursa on January 2, 2013 at 11:15 PM
This is the kind of depression that can happen when your team has a crappy season.
Us Lions fans have become inured to such effects.
Clark1 on January 2, 2013 at 11:31 PM
Maybe you just need to start rooting for an exciting team. Go 9ers!
Xasprtr on January 2, 2013 at 11:34 PM
Seahawks!
29Victor on January 2, 2013 at 11:48 PM