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Low Ratings Exemplifies NFL’s Bad Product

The NFL is getting just desserts.

After feeling invincible all these years despite bad public relations, the league is finally gets its comeuppance by having terrible ratings this season, especially when the games are on Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday night.

The NFL can go on damage control, but no one can deny the product stinks. That’s why the ratings are not good.

I watched the Vikings go up against the Eagles along with the Seahawks playing the Cardinals this past Sunday. The Seahawks game was boring and unwatchable. I tried hard to get into it, but the awful performance by those teams had me disengaged. Spare me about great defense. The games featured horrible quarterback play and awful offensive lines. Those four teams were fundamentally bad when it came to catching the football. In the game between the Seahawks and Cardinals, both teams feature kickers that missed field goals in overtime. It cost the Cardinals a win.

This display of football has been common this season.

It says something about the league that there are only two great teams in the Cowboys and Patriots while the rest are mediocre at best. This isn’t parity. This is a league that features teams that are just not good enough to be in the playoffs.

The Giants are not a good football team, but they are a NFC contender by default. They are the best of all mediocre teams, even though the offensive line continues to leave so much to be desired. The offense continues to be a work in progress. Maybe they get better as the months go on, but this is not a Super Bowl contending team.

The Giants are a flawed team playing in a flawed league.

The Broncos are the second-best team in the AFC, and their offense stinks. What does that say about the other AFC contending teams? It’s the Patriots, and that’s it. It would be surprising if Brady and the Patriots are not playing in Houston for the Super Bowl this season. No one is going to waste time watching bad football, especially on a Monday night or Thursday night.

There are so many theories to why the product stinks. The big takeaway is there is not much game-changing talent at wide receiver or at quarterback. Plus, there is are so many awful offensive lines around the league.

One can’t help but wonder if it’s going to get worse. Football may have a hard time producing young players since they may not want to play football after gaining knowledge about concussions. That’s something NFL commissioner Roger Goodell can’t take lightly no matter how much he spews.

Here’s another problem the NFL has: The games are on Thursday night. That is not a good thing since teams don’t have much days to practice. It’s hard to produce a good product where there is no practice time. It’s like cooking bad food by throwing random ingredients and preparing it.

There is no reason to have Thursday Night Football. No one wants to watch horrible games as a result of no practice time. Sure, it’s a great way for the league to make money, but bad games will turn viewers off, and the bottom line will be affected.

There hasn’t been a great Thursday night football game since the league started airing its games every Thursdays since 2008. Eliminate Thursday Night Football, and maybe the league may have something good going.

Maybe this is just cyclical. The NHL, MLB and NBA have gone through a phase where the product is not good, but all three leagues recovered nicely. The NFL better hope it is cyclical.

It’s easy to be cynical about the future of the league. More youngsters are going to get into baseball, soccer and basketball since their parents don’t want their kid to play football because of the danger that comes with it.

That’s why it’s hard to shrug this off.

This could be the end of the times for this league as we know it. Nothing lasts forever.

In a way, it’s refreshing to see Goodell and the owners get theirs. It’s been a long time after being so arrogant.

Leslie Monteiro
I'm the author of 10 books. If you're looking for autographed copies just go to my Twitter @Sportsology and DM me.

2 thoughts on “Low Ratings Exemplifies NFL’s Bad Product

  1. Deserts? It’s desserts. That’s a mistake in the first sentence. Who proofreads this? Terrible job by the writer and editor.

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