Is it just me or is it just mediocre football now?

Question

the nfl wanted it and now they have it. with the salary cap and all the other restrictions they've put on owners, they've gotten so-so football. people say that they got tired of the same teams winning, i think that was a bad statement. there were fewer good teams, but they were great and the playoffs were great. think about the years of pittsburgh and oakland, or dallas and minnesota, there were alot of great playoff games. these games today are not won by exacution but instead by mistakes. i'm tired of seeing bad football

Answer 1

Only the NFC.

Answer 2

the salary cap didn't put an end to great football. players during the era of the Steel Curtain weren't paid that much, and only the greed of today's players makes the cap neccesary. Otherwise you'll end up with what happened in baseball, where players are paid 100,000,000+ dollars. free agency has made it possible for any team to become good by bringing in good players. Look at the Cardinals who brought in Edgerine James last season. now with a competent head coach in Ken Wisenhunt and o-line coach in Russ Grimm, the traditionally downtrodden cards have a chance to be a legit playoff contender for the first time since they went to Arizona. also the bengals, who had been the doormat of the AFC besides the browns until they started Carson Palmer and went to the playoffs for the first time since 1990.
to say that recent playoffs have been "so-so" , you must not have seen many of them. how about last year Steelers v Colts when the sure-handed Bettis fumbled at the goal line. a shoe string tackle by Roethlisberger may have saved the game. you can't say that watching vanderjakt miss the field goal to end the game wasn't dramatic. also the Raiders v Patriots game that brought the "tuck rule" into the average armchair quarterback's vocabulary was a good one. mistakes and bad calls are part of the game, and if a team can't overcome one screw-up from time to time, then they don't deserve to win.
the game this year that i'm upset i missed was the colts' comeback v the Pats. if you think overcoming an 18 pt deficit is "bad football," maybe you should go watch bowling.

Answer 3

A secondary issue is the talent pool is getting thinner, with expansion, drug and off field problems for players. I agree the Salary cap killed probably the greatest dynasty in football, the 80-90's Forty Niners and Cowboys. The whole realignment was supposed to fix some of that, but I believe it has made it worse. Seattle made the playoffs by default, because St. Louis, Phnx, & SF were playing so bad. The NFC east looked competitive because they were all marginal teams. Which is why more and more people have turned back to College Football, its fresh, competitive, every year a new team has got a shot and the old favorites put great product on the field.

Answer 4

I strongly disagree. I think football is better than ever. There is a higher quantity of skilled players than there were two decades ago, and not only does this make games more fun to watch, but it greatly offsets the limitations of the salary cap. The game is more complex, and every team has a unique gameplan based on their strengths and weaknesses. This renders pro football very nuanced, interesting and cerebral. And there have always been "mistakes" in football games, but the greatest teams can overcome their own mistakes and capitalize on those of the opponent. Plus, the Steelers of the 70's, perhaps the greatest team in your example, was not even a high-budget team, which hurts your salary cap criticism. Teams of today, such as the Patriots, Steelers, Chargers, Broncos, and Eagles manage to be successful seemingly every year despite the salary cap. To me, "mediocre football" occurs when the overwhelming majority of NFL teams can't even compete with the top two or three teams in the league.

Answer 5

In the era where you could just build a team with no regard to salary We'd get the 1979 Steeler vs. the 1979 Saints and such (or the 1989 49er vs. the 1989 Saints:))
The absolute worse teams of the salary cap era, say, the Texans, could seriously whip the absolute worse team on the non-salary cap era, the Bucs.

Then there have also been major rule changes, mostly in 1978.

Yes, it is you. If you don't like it, don't watch it.

Answer 6

I agree as far as the playoffs go. The best playoff game including the superbowls that I have seen in the last 5 years was last years Colts V. Steelers game. The 16 game season is still entertaining, because of the zebra crew and players willing to take more chances.

Answer 7

It's not that it is bad football. It is actually real good football. Now a days you don't just have 3 or 4 stars your whole team is a star. It is hard to win by talent alone anymore. The teams are evenly matched therefor they win by the other team making more mistakes.

Answer 8

The NFL is as amazing as its ever been, Tagliabu is a stud for what he's done for the NFL.
The talent is spread out evenly, and it makes for very exciting (unpredictable) playoff rounds and Super Bowls, look at the last 3, for example.
You want mediocre look at the NHL, its like a fcckin beer league now. The strike killed it. The 2 biggest stars, (who are carrying the game) are like 20 years old...its pathetic.

Answer 9

How old are you? Today's football is just as exciting as it was back in the day if not more so. Plays are smarter, players are faster, teams are more competitive. All of these things not only make for more exciting play but also for the highest popularity in football ever.

Answer 10

It isn't that the best teams have gotten worse, it's that the worst teams have gotten better...

Answer 11

I totally agree with you! I also think the whole penalties thing kind of suck. They practically get a penalty for anything they do. LET THESE MEN PLAY FOR GOD SAKE!