this morning on the Opening Drive with Bob Papa.
Basically, he said that of the 13 games played this week, only 4 were decided by 7 points or less. That this was greatly in contrast to when he played, and cited the number that the majority of games were decided by three to seven points.
He also cited the amount of Prime Time blowouts. Last Monday night's game: unwatchable. Thursday night game: unwatchable. Sunday night game: unwatchable. Last night's game: unwatchable. Basically said that it's great that if your team is winning, but that the NFL is walking a line of losing the casual fan that is just looking for an exciting game, and these days most games are decided pretty much by halftime.
Amani then talked about how the Giants game was competitive, but that he turned it off shortly into the third, because it was clear what was happening (didn't elaborate). Bob Papa then chimed in to say that the average score used to be about three point difference heading into the fourth quarter, but he didn't know if it was his perception or reality that many games this season are clearly over by halftime.
They both agreed that the NFL wanted more scoring and more points for excitement, but may not have planned on this result, which is the opposite of exciting, but rather boring.
Yeah, and he actually added that as well. He said you had teams that have just royally screwed up their cap, like Carolina, that just can't field competitive teams, and it will take them 3 to 5 years to adjust.
They said what used to make the NFL great was the competition, and that basically in it's current form that seems to be gone.
They may get bumped off for the beach now as they suck and I'd rather enjoy myself on SUndays than get pissed off watching shitty football played for people who just want their QB to get them 22 points or a WR they never heard of before their draft score a TD two time zones away,.
I thought it was a good commentary. Because the Giants suck, I've watched less league wide football, but what I have seen, there have been many lopsided blowouts that have not captured my interest as a fan.
This is a good point, that I would have liked to hear their answer to...
I turned off last night's game because it was over early. It sucks as a fan.
I turned off last night's game because it was over early. It sucks as a fan.
That's kind of what I started thinking about as they were talking about it, and they were right....
Last Monday night was unwatchable, so was Thursday night, so was Sunday night, so was last night...
And not only were they unwatchable, they were REALLY unwatchable. I mean, Aaron Rodgers throws 6 TD's in the first half against a division rival? Really? Cleveland Blows out Cincy, supposedly two evenly matched teams?
lmao at this.
From the OP, all he did was acknowledge what we all can figure out by looking at a box score.
-Sunday Night Football games are being decided by an average of three touchdowns, by far the highest in history.
-More than half of all primetime games have been decided by 20 points or more.
-There has only been one fourth-quarter lead change in primetime since Week 2.
-Through Week 10, there have already been more primetime 20+point blowouts in primetime than in the previous three seasons combined.
-Thursday Night Football games are being decided by 20.5 points per game, which is second-highest for any primetime slate of the past 25 seasons.
-Primetime games are being decided by a touchdown more than non-primetime games.
-Three of the four biggest blowouts of the season came in primetime games.
USA Today: Primetime NFL Games have been HIstorically Awful in 2014: By the numbers - ( New Window )
‘Sunday Night Football’ Ratings Fall To Season Low For NBC With Blowout - ( New Window )
-Sunday Night Football games are being decided by an average of three touchdowns, by far the highest in history.
-More than half of all primetime games have been decided by 20 points or more.
-There has only been one fourth-quarter lead change in primetime since Week 2.
-Through Week 10, there have already been more primetime 20+point blowouts in primetime than in the previous three seasons combined.
-Thursday Night Football games are being decided by 20.5 points per game, which is second-highest for any primetime slate of the past 25 seasons.
-Primetime games are being decided by a touchdown more than non-primetime games.
-Three of the four biggest blowouts of the season came in primetime games. USA Today: Primetime NFL Games have been HIstorically Awful in 2014: By the numbers - ( New Window )
Thanks - this puts data behind what we've felt/seen.
42-0 at halftime? 6 TD's in one half? You think that's routine, regardless of record?
We're talking about keeping the attention of the casual, hell the die hard too, NFL fan.
Fantasy is gambling and brings in a whole new type of fan. The point made above about a person not caring if his team is getting blown out so long as their fantasy guy is getting points is spot on.
I see it now with some people I have watched games with.
I also think the it is impossible to build a deep team. The cap and the limits on practicing in the CBA have destroyed any ability to build real depth on a roster for most teams. This combined with injuries have made many teams stink.
To me it is very noticeable that the product on the field is worse. If you enjoy football for the sport you are shit outta luck, the NFL believes you will watch no matter what.
Where the NFL had been touting ratings is on the thursday Night games, but keep in mind, they went to CBS for the first half this year. That alone will give a huge boost.
Other than that, I think the ratings have been flat.
I'm not sure what the solution is but I wouldn't be surprised if they relaxed some of the defensive calls. They'll still enforce the ones around player safety but they might give the DBs a little more leeway when it comes to contact downfield.
Fantasy is gambling and brings in a whole new type of fan. The point made above about a person not caring if his team is getting blown out so long as their fantasy guy is getting points is spot on.
I see it now with some people I have watched games with.
I also think the it is impossible to build a deep team. The cap and the limits on practicing in the CBA have destroyed any ability to build real depth on a roster for most teams. This combined with injuries have made many teams stink.
To me it is very noticeable that the product on the field is worse. If you enjoy football for the sport you are shit outta luck, the NFL believes you will watch no matter what.
Then I think it's the NFL itself that is gambling, long term.
If my team stinks, I'm not watching, and that's a change for me.
Scoring of any type is all that matters
Where the NFL had been touting ratings is on the thursday Night games, but keep in mind, they went to CBS for the first half this year. That alone will give a huge boost.
Other than that, I think the ratings have been flat.
CBS's CEO recently said they were disappointed in the ratings and attributed a lot of it to blowouts.
Me too, that we be an interesting conversation
The parity of it has bad teams getting blown out one week, then blowing out another team the following week.
The Colts are a perfect example of this, and so is Pittsburgh...
Cleveland blows out Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh blows out Colts, Colts blow out Giants, etc...
The scoring is all out of whack.
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but they scheduled the game anyway, so why is it a surprise when it becomes a blowout? Green Bay regularly undresses chicago.
42-0 at halftime? 6 TD's in one half? You think that's routine, regardless of record?
We're talking about keeping the attention of the casual, hell the die hard too, NFL fan.
Not routine, but why expect a good game here?
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In comment 11972036 Ten Ton Hammer said:
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but they scheduled the game anyway, so why is it a surprise when it becomes a blowout? Green Bay regularly undresses chicago.
42-0 at halftime? 6 TD's in one half? You think that's routine, regardless of record?
We're talking about keeping the attention of the casual, hell the die hard too, NFL fan.
Not routine, but why expect a good game here?
That's one game... And it's not the outcome that's in question, is the historic style in which the outcome was decided.
It's an interesting talking point and an interesting thread. It's just funny you said Amani Toomer had a great point in your thread title. Hardly the headline of an important discussion, especially since he didn't make any point, lol.
No offense meant. Just humorous.
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You don't have to join in the conversation.
It's an interesting talking point and an interesting thread. It's just funny you said Amani Toomer had a great point in your thread title. Hardly the headline of an important discussion, especially since he didn't make any point, lol.
No offense meant. Just humorous.
He did make a point. He said the NFL is going to lose the casual fan at this rate, the one that's just looking for a good game.
Carry on. Your thread is interesting and I don't want to miller.
I think it's a keen observation when you think about it. Clearly this sudden obsession the NFL has with PI penalties is resulting in higher scoring games and those teams that are lucky enough to have a combination of good gun slinging QBs and great receivers are blowing out the defenses.
Maybe this will lead the NFL to re-think their strategy of calling PI penalties for the slightest infraction.
Fantasy football. Gambling
Are they mutually exclusive? Do you disagree with either of these complaints?
I think it's a keen observation when you think about it. Clearly this sudden obsession the NFL has with PI penalties is resulting in higher scoring games and those teams that are lucky enough to have a combination of good gun slinging QBs and great receivers are blowing out the defenses.
Maybe this will lead the NFL to re-think their strategy of calling PI penalties for the slightest infraction.
Exactly, the NFL is getting the OPPOSITE result of what they wanted with the changes they've made.
Their reasoning was that higher scoring equals more excitement equals bigger ratings, and that appears to be backfiring.
Fantasy football bullshit is the root of all evil.
Awful Announcing: The amount of NFL primetime blowouts this year has been absurd - ( New Window )
This is a great post Joey. Unfortunately we've got an old school coach who clearly doesn't get this new era of football. Every time I hear him talk about balance on offense, time of possesion and playing the field position game I shake my head. We won't truly have a chance to compete until he's gone. Sorry to say it but I believe it's true.
Long-term I hope that it is not sustainable. Trying to find a film worth watching is as difficult as finding a football game worth watching.
When was the last time one of our opponents punted form our 37 yard line?
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I see in this thread and many others, myself included, long time fans saying they now watch the Giants and that's it. So, how the Hell are the ratings so good? They can't possibly have picked up so many new and/or fringe fans.
Fantasy football. Gambling
Disagree Matty. Don't know if you play fantasy or not, but there's absolutely no reason that blowouts are attractive to players. All you really look for is beating your opponent. If the 7-3 game does it for you, fine. If the 43-40 game does it, fine, makes no difference. For every player that's on the winning side of a high score, there are likely players getting screwed by the losing side. And if a team scores 45 points, but the player you have only scored 4 of those points, the other 41 are meaningless or maybe your opponent has them. The high scores are totally irrelevant to fantasy interest
The blow outs are concerning. I also believe the talent pool is decreasing rapidly in the sport. The head injuries and subsequent medical and psychological issues associated with them is going to destroy the game. It may be a lot sooner than we all think.
You would also think that more passing also leads to more clock stoppages and more plays.
its fucking boring as dick. I watch my team and if they are sucking balls and I am getting too frustrated will wind up switching to something else.
i only have football on of other games if I am around the house on a Sunday afternoon, otherwise, don't care except when i check ESPN to see scores highlights and injuries / stories.
fuck the hype and scoring sucks too... who gives a shit if a game is 50-35 or 13 - 7...
Last week, the Lions vs Dolphins and Saints vs 49ers (off the top of my head) were very dramatic and as someone who never considered themself a casual fan, I am engrossed every week watching the great endings.
It seems like there are the same amount of close games, but yeah definitely more blowouts - not sure if that's perception or if it's always been the case.
In the past, a great D and poor QB/offense could keep the game close, or a good D and average offense would stay competitive. With the way they've handcuffed the Defense over the past ten years, we've finally reached a point where you wind up with miss matches week to week where a D can't hold serve and then things quickly spiral out of control.
link - ( New Window )
When was the last time one of our opponents punted form our 37 yard line?
This view of the world that Coughlin is some doddering old codger who is "too set in is ways" is a pile of steaming horseshit.
Unintended consequences are what happens when you go monkeying around with the rules to achieve a certain result. More scoring doesn't necessarily mean both teams will do more scoring. Qb has a hot hand, the other team makes a few mistakes and the other team is down by 3 scores in a few minutes. The losing team has to take more chances to catch up, there are more mistakes and is down by more.
Don't forget about the gambling (non fantasy) aspect.
I don't know what the over/under was for the Bears-Packers game, but I don't it think it was reached until sometime in the 3rd quarter.
Maybe you even put money on the Bears or Packers for the 2nd half of the game only. You still had to watch to see if your bet cashed in.
That is why while the quality of play has diminished over the last 5-10 years turning some folks off, the NFL has gained an influx of fantasy owners and of course, gamblers to almost offset it.
Carry on. Your thread is interesting and I don't want to miller.
Huh? How did you know I opened this thread 3 hours before I actually did? I thought you only could see into the past?
So you can't say the only thing fans care about are fantasy and higher scores. The evidence is clear, if the game isn't close people turn it off.
If this trend continues the league will try to react and do something to change this.
Ratings are the only thing that matters. Watch those to see whether or not the NFL is happy with the direction of the league.