For me, I just think that if the NFL were rigged, the big market teams like the Giants, Jets, Chargers, Bears, Redskins / Commanders, Texans, Cardinals, etc. would have done a whole lot better over the last 20 years. That's where all the rating / money is, so you'd want those audiences to be most engaged.
Ever since the NFL went completely in on hyping quarterbacks, NFL ratings have had an equal or better correlation with star quarterbacks rather than market size. Looking at the 2022 ratings, there is Dallas, and then after that there seems to be just as much Cincinnati, Kansas City, Green Bay as much as big market teams.
A few years ago I could have sworn that I saw a study about this, but cannot locate it now. Seems to me it wasn't even an NFL study, but rather a study about MLB and their dropping TV ratings. One of the conclusions was how other leagues to a much better job of marketing their star players, which is how the NFL got tied into the study.
As a Jets fan I am well aware the importance of the QB position, we have been searching ever since Namath. In the past decade and a half we used our draft position to get USC’s Mark Sanchez, West Virginia’s Geno Smith, USC’s Sam Darnold (see a pattern there) and finally BYU’s Zach Wilson. All 4 were not stretch picks but all 4 have not turn out to be a winner.
And then some teams get very lucky like the Patriots (who found Tom Brady in the 6th Round!) or SF who have discover the wonderful world of Mr Irrelevant.
One scary thing is the supposed top pick for this coming draft is once again a USC QB, will he be the one that breaks through and becomes a big star?
_________________ "Every day a little sadder, A little madder, Someone get me a ladder."
ELP
“You can't have everything. Where would you put it?”—Steven Wright
For me, I just think that if the NFL were rigged, the big market teams like the Giants, Jets, Chargers, Bears, Redskins / Commanders, Texans, Cardinals, etc. would have done a whole lot better over the last 20 years. That's where all the rating / money is, so you'd want those audiences to be most engaged.
Ever since the NFL went completely in on hyping quarterbacks, NFL ratings have had an equal or better correlation with star quarterbacks rather than market size. Looking at the 2022 ratings, there is Dallas, and then after that there seems to be just as much Cincinnati, Kansas City, Green Bay as much as big market teams.
A few years ago I could have sworn that I saw a study about this, but cannot locate it now. Seems to me it wasn't even an NFL study, but rather a study about MLB and their dropping TV ratings. One of the conclusions was how other leagues to a much better job of marketing their star players, which is how the NFL got tied into the study.
Sure, but then stuff like this happens.
I see people on Facebook in the comments sections complaining about how it's rigged and all this other stuff -- my question is always, "Then why watch?" If I thought things were rigged against my team, I'd find something else to do. Why watch something you think is rigged, then get angry that it's rigged? I don't get it.
my feeling about games being fixed are 100% about the gambling.
if you gamble you understand..........the lines and numbers and totals and odds are just always too damn close, so damn close.
and every so often you get a game like last sunday where a 10 - 1 team is getting points at home....bad teams get points at home, not 10 - 1 teams that are being touted as the best team in the NFL...and then they proceed to give up 40+ points and get eh shit kicked out them.
something isn't right about that
and it isn't worth talking about the non call on the pass interference with the chiefs.....WTF was that.
lots and lots and lots of money is bet on the NFL.......need i say more.
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Lots of Big 10 people are 100% convinced this years Iowa/Minnesota football game was decided by officials in a very, very questionable fashion.
Iowa were a 3.5 point favorite.
Minnesota leads 12-10 with 1:21 minutes remaining. Minnesota punts, Iowa returns it for a touchdown. No flags on the play. Replay calls down to the field, Iowa head coach asks on-field official why. On-field official says they want to make sure the returner did not step out-of-bounds. After dinking around for awhile, replay comes back and says returner gave an illegal fair catch signal, negated the TD. Minnesota wins by 2 and covers the spread. If the TD stands, Iowa very likely wins by either 4 or 6 and then Iowa covers.
"Officials" and "rules experts" seem to want to stick by their opinion that it was the right call. However, no official called the illegal fair catch on the field, Minnesota players did not stop because of the action of the returner, and the on-field official flat out told Iowa's head coach that replay wanted to see if the returner stepped out-of-bounds. And then they come back with a questionable illegal fair catch call. Even Minnesota fans thought there was something very fishy about the whole thing. When the betting line swings from one side to the other on a very, very controversial call like that...almost makes one think that someone important had a big wad of cash riding on the outcome.
Lots of Big 10 people are 100% convinced this years Iowa/Minnesota football game was decided by officials in a very, very questionable fashion.
Iowa were a 3.5 point favorite.
Minnesota leads 12-10 with 1:21 minutes remaining. Minnesota punts, Iowa returns it for a touchdown. No flags on the play. Replay calls down to the field, Iowa head coach asks on-field official why. On-field official says they want to make sure the returner did not step out-of-bounds. After dinking around for awhile, replay comes back and says returner gave an illegal fair catch signal, negated the TD. Minnesota wins by 2 and covers the spread. If the TD stands, Iowa very likely wins by either 4 or 6 and then Iowa covers.
"Officials" and "rules experts" seem to want to stick by their opinion that it was the right call. However, no official called the illegal fair catch on the field, Minnesota players did not stop because of the action of the returner, and the on-field official flat out told Iowa's head coach that replay wanted to see if the returner stepped out-of-bounds. And then they come back with a questionable illegal fair catch call. Even Minnesota fans thought there was something very fishy about the whole thing. When the betting line swings from one side to the other on a very, very controversial call like that...almost makes one think that someone important had a big wad of cash riding on the outcome.
the officials are certainly one way to affect a game........
the trick is to keep the least amount of people involved, in a case of game fixing especially, the less the better.
_________________ Speak Out! You've got to speak out against he madness, that is if you still can, and you still dare"
I think the basic idea that the NFL won't fix the issue is because people are watching anyway is correct. There's little incentive for them to invest time and money when there won't be a meaningful return on investment. Pat McAfee has said they'll probably wait until someone in a position of power loses a bet on a questionable call and calls for an investigation. He's probably right.
This article makes a very good point --
Quote:
If the NFL wanted good refereeing, it would have it
When the NFL perceives a problem, look at how quickly it snuffs it out. Celebrations it didn’t like were gone in one offseason. They’ll remove the Brotherly Shove soon enough. Horse-collar tackles, hits to defenseless receivers, next up the hip-drop (which we used to call a suplex). They’ll change soon enough.
And yet NFL refs aren’t full-time. Most of them have other jobs during the week, time that could be spent reviewing their performance from Sunday and learning what’s next. Doesn’t seem to be on the radar. Would cost owners more money that they’ll never notice.
NFL players are bigger and faster than ever. And while refs are certainly in better shape than they used to be and probably a little younger, doesn’t feel like they’re keeping up at the same rate to react to plays that are happening in less time than ever before. It’s a little like MLB umps, who are being asked to call balls and strikes on the nastiest stuff in history. It’s just not a doable task.
Us yelling at each other might be exactly what the league wants. Well, it gets it.
I think the basic idea that the NFL won't fix the issue is because people are watching anyway is correct. There's little incentive for them to invest time and money when there won't be a meaningful return on investment. Pat McAfee has said they'll probably wait until someone in a position of power loses a bet on a questionable call and calls for an investigation. He's probably right.
well said, when phil mickelson loses a million or 2 (or more) on a last minute call, or no-call, and he makes a phone call to jerry jones or jeff lurie......then maybe.
_________________ Speak Out! You've got to speak out against he madness, that is if you still can, and you still dare"
I think it'll be more than that -- someone will ask them to speak before congress, like they did with concussions and Dan Snyder. "How long did you know there was a problem with officiating? Why didn't you do anything about?"
Quarterback Injuries Are Defining the NFL Playoff Race
Because it’s a tough, physical game—and because quarterbacks hold the ball on pretty much every play, and because every single player on defense wants to hit the player holding the ball, and most of those players are simultaneously very fast and very big—a lot of quarterbacks get hurt. We’ve seen six season-ending injuries this year (Burrow, Richardson, Watson, Rodgers, Cousins, and Daniel Jones), and a slew of other quarterbacks have missed at least one start due to an injury: Kyler Murray, Bryce Young, Jimmy Garoppolo, Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor, Matthew Stafford, Ryan Tannehill. Derek Carr might join that list this week; his Saints are also in the playoff hunt.
Below the season enders and the game missers are the quarterbacks whose injuries have clearly affected their play. Anyone watching Hurts this season can tell that his knee injury has affected his mobility; Justin Herbert’s finger injury limited the Chargers’ ability to go under center; Geno Smith has been playing with an injury to the tricep/elbow of his throwing arm. According to ProFootballTalk, the only starting quarterbacks to have stayed fully healthy this year are Tua Tagovailoa (huge news for the jujitsu community), Russell Wilson, Sam Howell, Jared Goff, and Jordan Love. That’s mostly young players and Wilson, whose durability is the stuff of legends.
Currently NFL quarterbacks, other offensive players, and offensive schemes are likely the worst in NFL history. In fact, the overall quality of the NFL got so poor a few years ago that I completely stopped watching their shit product.
Don't believe that NFL offenses are garbage?
I'd guess that I started watching the NFL in about 1975, when I would have been 6 years old. In 1975, the average team scored 20.6 points per game.
They have completely re-written the rulebook for more offense, and teams can only manage 1 extra point per game after all of that? I had to do a double-take on those links I posted above because I found it really hard to believe. It's completely pitiful.
The highest scoring season ever was 2020, but it was still a hair under 25 points a game.
I suppose you could see it as pitiful for offenses, but I tend to see it showing the resilience and innovation of defensive coordinators. The schemes are more complex than ever before and figuring ways around whatever rules they try to implement to stop offenses.
_________________ I'm forever blowing bubbles,
pretty bubbles in the air,
they fly so high,
nearly reach the sky,
then like my dreams,
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I've looked everywhere,
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
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They don't ever call PI on end zone Hail Mary's. There were other questionable calls during the game, I'll give you that, but the last one is NEVER called.
I don't even blame the refs anymore -- the rules are so complicated with "ifs and thens" that I don't think a normal human could accurately call a game in real time. They need to come into the 21st century, where instantaneous slow-motion replay done by people in a booth could help the accuracy and speed of making good calls in real time. Just a guy in the head official's headset saying, "Hey, that was a pass interference..." or "Hey, pick up that flag..."
I guess the XFL already came up with this solution years ago.
He ain't Patrick Mahomes and he does have some serious weapons, but when are haters gonna give this dude a little credit and just admit he's good? Maybe not great, but just good?
oh, he is good, very good
Yep, he's very good. Give me a QB with a high floor, good football IQ, and the ability to occasionally make a great play, and I'll take that over the wing it all over the yard, run for your life, throw into triple coverage QB any day. Most of the talking heads that make it across the border into Canada have Purdy in the MVP conversation, so that sounds like a lot of credit.
They don't ever call PI on end zone Hail Mary's. There were other questionable calls during the game, I'll give you that, but the last one is NEVER called.
I don't even blame the refs anymore -- the rules are so complicated with "ifs and thens" that I don't think a normal human could accurately call a game in real time. They need to come into the 21st century, where instantaneous slow-motion replay done by people in a booth could help the accuracy and speed of making good calls in real time. Just a guy in the head official's headset saying, "Hey, that was a pass interference..." or "Hey, pick up that flag..."
I guess the XFL already came up with this solution years ago.
I guess some of it is that it's a very nostalgic sport and they don't like changing "tradition" unless there's a serious profit upside (like more passing = more ratings).
I actually ended up going to the Rams v Ravens game with a buddy from out of town, so I missed most of the NFL action...
But hey, congrats to Zach Wilson! I guess he probably had his career-best game? Colts got embarrassed by the Bengals, but it looks like we weren't alone and didn't lose any playoff positioning with the Texans, Jaguars, and Steelers all losing this past week.
I’m glad that Zach Wilson showed why he was a #2 pick and can actually play this game when the play calling and personnel all do their job. It also shows it is a Jets management problem failing him for 3 years with a bad O line and receivers who can’t catch a ball. Yesterday they did catch the ball especially the TE’s and the play calling was finally getting people open.
Some feel with a better coach like an Andy Reid, Wilson could shine. Obviously Robert Saleh is not that guy.
And I finally had a fun game to watch, very rare.
Really enjoyed the second games especially Buffalo at KC. Watched all of that. Missed the Sunday night game as my wife needs to watch The Gilded Age and I need a break from football.
_________________ "Every day a little sadder, A little madder, Someone get me a ladder."
ELP
“You can't have everything. Where would you put it?”—Steven Wright
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