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Thursday Night Football is a terrible product (1 Viewer)

S

Saboo

Footballguy
These games are unwatchable 95% of the time. They only exist to put more tv money in the owners pockets and have nothing to do with delivering a quality product...Not to mention the lip service the NFL gives to players health and more specifically concussions.

I'm convinced that the two major reasons why the NFL's tv ratings are dropping are the over saturation of the market (we don't need the NFL 3 nights a week) and the watered down product. Case in point, this game tonight between the Packers and Bears is absolutely unwatchable.

 
Honestly, I think most NFL games are unwatchable by themselves.  It's just on Sunday, we have multiple games to chose from, and Red Zone channel hides a lot of the problems.

The problem becomes unavoidably evident when you don't have other games to flip between, catching the brief compelling moments of each in turn.

 
I haven't watched an entire NFL game since Drew Bledsoe went down.  The extra TV timeouts added in 98 or 99? killed it for me.  I finally gave up my Patriot season tickets when they moved into Gillette, but I did give most tickets away that last year anyway.

 I have watched some Red Zone channel over the last two years if I have nothing else going on and it's pretty cool.

Not being able to hit the QB'S is killing the NFL like giant goalie pads killed the NHL imo.  The game has no action anymore.

 
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This is the 19th prime time game so far this year, and I would argue that 13 or 14 of them have been in the bad to awful to watch range. 

 
the nfl is becoming a worse and worse product with every passing year

thursday night football is awful though. just really, really bad

 
Arodin said:
Honestly, I think most NFL games are unwatchable by themselves.  It's just on Sunday, we have multiple games to chose from, and Red Zone channel hides a lot of the problems.

The problem becomes unavoidably evident when you don't have other games to flip between, catching the brief compelling moments of each in turn.
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:goodposting:

 
touchdown....3-minute review....false start....missed XP....commercial....kickoff....commercial

it's ridiculous

 
Can`t celebrate, can`t hit high, can`t hit low, penalties, reviews, commercials. I went from an NFL junkie to hardly watching at all the last few years.  I will watch the Lions for maybe half the game.  The others I just check my phone for scores. I do enjoy the playoff games but that's about it.

 
Walking Boot said:
The quality of the games has really gone down. Too many injuries to star players. Not enough emphasis on real safety. Guys are too big and getting too hurt and too many third and fourth stringers forced into starting. 

Too many penalties and too many are intentional. Too little intelligence from the coaches. 

Games should be fast, exciting, and players should move with urgency. Let's shorten the play clock and put in a weight limit. 
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Stuff like shortening the play clock is so obvious too.  But again, the NFL has become a monolith that isn't concerned about the on-field product.  Game has been getting worse since at least the mid-2000s (if not earlier).  It's just been buoyed by Redzone and especially fantasy football.

 
League has peaked, my interest has been in a steady decline and I've officially hit the "meh" level.

Watching an individual game is just not entertaining.

 
fantasycurse42 said:
League has peaked, my interest has been in a steady decline and I've officially hit the "meh" level.

Watching an individual game is just not entertaining.
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Agree. It is painful to watch a game. Kickoff - commercial, Punt-commercial, TV time-commercial. 

And Thursday nite games are unwatchable. 

 
this was my first packer game I've watched entirely this season. it was painful. and most of it was because I wanted to watch ty montgomery 

the nfl product has been steadily declining. then you factor in the commercials. then Thursday night over saturation. nfl players being over paid cry babies. insulting men and women who have died for our country. 

quite honestly, September and October I have way more important things and projects to do on a sunday. I don't want to sit in front of the TV for 3 hours in the middle of the day. I love night games when the packers play because I can do stuff around the house and kind of pay attention. Otherwise I really couldn't care less. 

nfl is definitely heading down hill

 
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PIK95 said:
Not being able to hit the QB'S is killing the NFL like giant goalie pads killed the NHL imo.  The game has no action anymore.
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You think more backup QBs seeing the field would improve the product? The bottom 1/3 of the entire league (at least) already has terrible starting QB play. That's not even getting into backups, or 3rd stringers. I don't think that's a viable solution to the problem in today's NFL. 

 
prgromek said:
touchdown....3-minute review....false start....missed XP....commercial....kickoff....commercial

it's ridiculous
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Last Sunday, between the commercials and 2 DST touchdowns, the Eagles offense was not on the field for almost 2 real hours.

 
Dr. Brew said:
nfl players being over paid cry babies. insulting men and women who have died for our country. 
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Not suggesting this is specifically your view, but always been fascinated by how fans are so critical of NFL players and not owners.  The irony is that the average NFL fan has a million more things in common with an NFL player than an NFL owner.  

Relatively speaking, players are the working class of the NFL.

 
Walking Boot said:
There are 320 million people in the United States. There are 32 NFL teams. How is it possible that they can't find one quarterback for each of them? There should be 32 guys at the elite level who can do the job. Just by math, it's just weird that the 32nd best guy, out of the entire population, is so amazingly far behind the 1st. 
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That seems inevitable in sports though. Just the nature of the beast. Same logic applies to Lionel Messi, Steph Curry, Usain Bolt, etc.

 
GET OFF MY LAWN.  The NFL is still the best spectator sport in the world.  Everything peaks, nothing can maintain growth forever.

Also judging things off TV ratings nowadays doesn't work.  The whole system how they do ratings is antiquated.  Tons of people watch sports in ways that aren't tracked by the rating system.

 
btemp said:
Not suggesting this is specifically your view, but always been fascinated by how fans are so critical of NFL players and not owners.  The irony is that the average NFL fan has a million more things in common with an NFL player than an NFL owner.  

Relatively speaking, players are the working class of the NFL.
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And the screen actors are the working class of Hollywood, not the producers.  Still lead a lifestyle wildly different from anything I can relate to.

(No, it's not the actors, its the stage crew and light techs that are the working class?  In that case, the NFL's working class are the groundskeepers, stadium security, defensive quality control coaches and maybe the guy who carries the first down marker...)

 
Dr. Brew said:
this was my first packer game I've watched entirely this season. it was painful. and most of it was because I wanted to watch ty montgomery 

the nfl product has been steadily declining. then you factor in the commercials. then Thursday night over saturation. nfl players being over paid cry babies. insulting men and women who have died for our country. 

quite honestly, September and October I have way more important things and projects to do on a sunday. I don't want to sit in front of the TV for 3 hours in the middle of the day. I love night games when the packers play because I can do stuff around the house and kind of pay attention. Otherwise I really couldn't care less. 

nfl is definitely heading down hill
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Oh please stop already

 
Arodin said:
Honestly, I think most NFL games are unwatchable by themselves.  It's just on Sunday, we have multiple games to chose from, and Red Zone channel hides a lot of the problems.

The problem becomes unavoidably evident when you don't have other games to flip between, catching the brief compelling moments of each in turn.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Over the last couple years I really have found myself enjoying college football much more. I was thinking the other day which two NFL teams playing each other would truly create a must watch game. I could not think of one matchup that I would be excited enough to clear my schedule for. I used to wish there was more parity in the NFL. Now I want to go back to 3-4 dominate teams so at least you can look forward to some particular matchups. You never know who the hell is going to show up in today's watered down game. I don't know how the game became so sloppy, boring, and energy-less but coming from someone who in the past would miss his own wedding to watch Sunday football....I can barely get through a half these days. Give me the college game all day long....at least there is some energy and life in that sport.

I will add that without FF and the 18 year league with the same guys.....I doubt I would watch at all. FF stands for NFL life support.

 
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ConnSKINS26 said:
You think more backup QBs seeing the field would improve the product? The bottom 1/3 of the entire league (at least) already has terrible starting QB play. That's not even getting into backups, or 3rd stringers. I don't think that's a viable solution to the problem in today's NFL. 
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I see it a bit like hockey. The athletes are bigger, faster and stronger. The equipment has evolved to the point of being armour and the "respect" for the opponent has eroded. Most guys in the secondary would much rather lay someone out and get on SportsCentre than make a quality tackle...

 
btemp said:
Not suggesting this is specifically your view, but always been fascinated by how fans are so critical of NFL players and not owners.  The irony is that the average NFL fan has a million more things in common with an NFL player than an NFL owner.  

Relatively speaking, players are the working class of the NFL.
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well, I am an owner

 
ConnSKINS26 said:
You think more backup QBs seeing the field would improve the product? The bottom 1/3 of the entire league (at least) already has terrible starting QB play. That's not even getting into backups, or 3rd stringers. I don't think that's a viable solution to the problem in today's NFL. 
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That is true in a way. Also the defenses have evolved, every defense knows what every team is running before they run it. The NFL games is very predictable now.  The long vertical pass is going the way of the dinosaur.  Now short slants and outs are the staple of all offenses , and occasional attempt at a long pass. Then you have a TV time out commercial, teams scores they go to a commercial, then after the PAT another commercial before kickoff, then another commercial after kickoff.  It usually takes around 5-6 minutes after the TD before action is resumed.

 
Ghost Rider said:
This is the 19th prime time game so far this year, and I would argue that 13 or 14 of them have been in the bad to awful to watch range. 
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This is the issue with the TV ratings. Week 1 was pretty decent. Week 2 had the Bills/Jets. I guess the Saints/Falcons was watchable but I wasn't very interested. The others have been poor. I was interested in last night's game only for the GB RB situation from a FF standpoint. Otherwise, the Bears aren't good and the Packers haven't been playing good. It seems that many of these games were just bad matchups.

In the Syracuse market we generally get the Bills game at 1pm and another choice. We get 1 4:25pm game that isn't always good or of interest to those in our area. Then the primetime matchups have been bad.

The TNF games didn't negatively impact ratings until now. So what changed? I think many are annoyed with the penalties. You shouldn't have to wait to celebrate your team's TD to make sure there isn't a flag. Some of this stuff that's called is just cookie cutter BS. If it didn't have a significant impact on the play, it doesn't need to be called. That's the whole intent of the rules, to make it fair. If someone slightly grabs a jersey and it has no impact on the play, why are we calling a penalty? The only time that should be different if it's something flagrant, like a bad block in the back away from the play that was unnecessary.

As far as the matchups... If they truly want to fix the problem, then they need to start handpicking primetime games a little better. I know they have some random schedule generator and they eliminate potential schedules based on that, but it's kind of foolish how they do it. They generate hundreds of potential schedules and go through them manually to get rid of ones that won't work. They look at teams that share stadiums for baseball playoff reasons, teams that have requested certain things (no long road stretches, no back-to-back west coast trips, etc). and all of that and rule out schedules based on that. I don't understand why they can't code a program that allows for all these variables. For instance, if you're concerned that Oakland A's are going to make the playoffs and the Raiders share a stadium, you don't want many home games in October. So for all teams you can mark who shares a MLB stadium and try to avoid those stadiums in October. That's just one example. You can create variables for each thing they're trying to predict/accommodate. The code would be annoying, but certainly could be done. It wouldn't make the perfect schedule, but surely a lot better than the current randomizer does. NFL is a billion dollar industry, I don't understand why they're not on top of this already.

 
Da Guru said:
That is true in a way. Also the defenses have evolved, every defense knows what every team is running before they run it. The NFL games is very predictable now.  The long vertical pass is going the way of the dinosaur.  Now short slants and outs are the staple of all offenses , and occasional attempt at a long pass. Then you have a TV time out commercial, teams scores they go to a commercial, then after the PAT another commercial before kickoff, then another commercial after kickoff.  It usually takes around 5-6 minutes after the TD before action is resumed.
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Don't really disagree with that. Just addressing the specific argument that the game went to #### because you can't hit QB's anymore. That would only make the product even worse.

 
ConnSKINS26 said:
Don't really disagree with that. Just addressing the specific argument that the game went to #### because you can't hit QB's anymore. That would only make the product even worse.
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I agree on that as there are only a handful of quality QBs now.  Just ask the Jets and the Bills as both have been looking for a QB forever.

 
i'm inclined to believe that it's just too much football over a week for most households. Sunday is pretty much consumed by NFL from noon to 10pm with games. Monday night is another night's viewership. Thursday just doesn't give a fan any respite from NFL and allow us to savor the games.

 
ConnSKINS26 said:
Don't really disagree with that. Just addressing the specific argument that the game went to #### because you can't hit QB's anymore. That would only make the product even worse.
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That, and they can't figure out what the #### a catch is. This is football. It's one of the most basic concepts in the game and we're in 2016 and can't figure it out.

 
TNF does suck - and it's kind of always sucked. 

The short week has been blamed by a lot of people smarter than me....less time for injuries to heal (save for Adams miraculous concussion clearing),less time to scheme on offfense or defense, travel time - players always come out looking lethargic on TNF.

And with the league's emphasis on not getting the hell sued out of them player safety, it's a joke that their own network allows games to happen with 4 days rest.

TNF is an abomination. 

 
Arodin said:
And the screen actors are the working class of Hollywood, not the producers.  Still lead a lifestyle wildly different from anything I can relate to.

(No, it's not the actors, its the stage crew and light techs that are the working class?  In that case, the NFL's working class are the groundskeepers, stadium security, defensive quality control coaches and maybe the guy who carries the first down marker...)
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Obviously different though.  Aside from the fact that NFL players are seriously harming their bodies, actors and producers aren't that disimilar.  Yet an NFL owner has at least $1 billion and the average player is making hundreds of thousands.  Most players are not Aaron Rodgers and even Aaron Rodgers income pales.  Hell, the commissioner makes significantly more than the top paid player.  

I'm not suggesting NFL players are wonderful scions of virtue but you have many owners who's only virtue is inheriting a team (or just money).   

The point is - if a fan is going to criticize anyone it should start with the owners.  In this drama, they are the villain.  Yet, fans time and time again will be quickest to turn on the players.  Bizarre.

 
ConnSKINS26 said:
You think more backup QBs seeing the field would improve the product? The bottom 1/3 of the entire league (at least) already has terrible starting QB play. That's not even getting into backups, or 3rd stringers. I don't think that's a viable solution to the problem in today's NFL. 
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But that's the NFL's fault.  By creating rules that emphasize and require elite QB play they've made talented QBs scarcer. As the QB position has become more important the divide between teams with/without a QB has grown.  You have to have a good QB to win and that's not true of any other position.  

But it doesn't have to be this way.  There are many solutions.  A simple one is widen the field by a few yards creating more separation and easier throws.  

It doesn't have to be like this.  But it's what the NFL has chosen. 

 
Ok, here is my proposal to fix the NFL schedule:

1. Give every team a bye the week BEFORE the Thursday night game, so each team would be coming off 10 days rest rather than 4!

2. Eliminate one preseason game and add a SECOND bye week, thus making it an 18 week season

3. Have EVERY team play one Thursday night game

4. Thursday night games should occur on week 1 (one game) , week 5 (one game), weeks 6-12 (two games each Thursday, this combined with the rest would sig increase the odds of finding good, well-played football on Thursday night)

5. After week 4, all Sunday night games would be chosen (i.e. Flex scheduling) two weeks in advance and each network that hosts the Sunday afternoon games would be allowed to protect one game from their line-up from being flexed.

player safety improved: check

better football: check

better match-ups in prime time: check

more football due to lengthened season: check

only issue is the network re-negotiation, but with MORE football overall (lengthened season) and better prime time football, I don't see how the total value of the tv contracts is anything but increased.

mr goodell, pls send me a single check for $20 million and I will stop writing about how you are on overpaid putz

 
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