I for one am incredibly excited because I believe TNF is about watching bad football.
You are thief of joy. Just because something isnt perfect you choose to stare at the flaw and criticize it. You would look at the liberty bell and bemoan the crack all the while ignoring the freedom it stands for. You would look at the Mona Lisa and lament its age while ignoring the artistic bliss on the canvas.
My challenge to you and to all the negative nellies out there is to watch the game and find the greatness on the field. Pay attention to the tackle who keeps stopping the end from getting to the QB, revel in the subtle shift in the hips of the RB as he breaks past the line of scrimmage, exalt in the poetry of the tapping toes of the WR along the sideline. There will be plenty of amazing moments. The score of the game and the season finish of the teams may not be remarkable, but it is football and if you want you will find the beauty.
They won 3 more games without him the next year and made the playoffs. Sanders is a bit overrated in value due to the iconic nature of his runs. His boom or bust style produced more losses on runs than any other back in the league every single year. Put the team in a very difficult situation to sustain drives. In fact despite having sanders at RB they were need the middle of the league in rushing 1st downs. Sanders was a big reason the team won but also a the biggest reason they were never going to win the title while he was there. He was a drive killer especially for the passing era at the time.