Football has always been this way. It’s a war of attrition. Football is a sloppy game played on dirt and grass whether rain, snow, or shine.
When offenses score, it’s “good football”. When offenses don’t score, it’s “bad football”. Guess what everybody, there’s a whole other side of the game: defense!
Statistical analyses that indicate a recent decline in scoring have an easy explanation. Defenses have gotten better! Specifically, Vic Fangio kicked off an advancement of Cover 2, 4, and 6 concepts, and DCs around the league have coached up their defenses to play spectacular zone defense. And at the same time, DCs have increased their blitz aggressiveness on third downs!
Last night was an excellent example. Brian Flores’ defense might drop 8 on one snap, then send 8 on the next. The Bears’ Tampa 2 last night was impressive, seamlessly switching their assignments and making plays on the ball. All I have seen/heard about the game was how bad it was. How could a game that ended on a game-winning FG be a bad football game? I truly don’t get it.
There’s a strong trend of fans criticizing players and coaches when they fail. They suck. They’re “JAGs”. Most of the time, one player is good, and the other player is better! Isn’t that a wild concept?
In my opinion, if you believe the quality of football has declined, you simply don’t like football. You have an idea about what football is—big plays, big games—and then reality does not meet your expectations. I see the posts every year about how football isn’t as good as it used to be, and it’s not true. You just don’t like football, and that’s fine.
This is a response to growing sentiments among Redditors and football media (reporters/writers, podcasters, TV analysts), not Tom Brady. I think TB said what he said because he’s a competitive maniac who has the ultimate perfectionist’s standards of play. The GOAT gets a pass; the rest of you don’t.
Feel free to shit talk me as much as I’ve shit talked you.
This “football now bad” comments conveniently started the second media darling QBs Burrow and Herbert appeared to be missing the playoffs.
Of course someone like Brady has his own agenda to paint a picture of dominant NFL in his prime, when in reality he was annually beating up in a truly horrific division for a decade.
Data will show the league is at around average year, and I’m personally enjoying people like CMC, Garett and Tyreek getting some love and recognition for what they bring to the table, as well as Stroud who’s having a historically great year for a rookie QB. The story is just more diverse this year and some might not like it.