Too Much Offense in the NFL

[Seven]

Growing up, as the youngest, my a good margin in a large family, I was often regaled with tales of the great QB's of the past. Stories of Tarkenton, Staubach, Bradshaw, Unitas, Marino, Montana, etc. Shown grainy film and VHS tapes of games recorded some time ago, and also shown statistics.

Now I think pure numbers are emphasized a little less in Football, but I remember marveling over the passing numbers of all of these players, especially seeing Montana's career passer rating, as I couldn't believe how high it was.

Nowadays I feel like the NFL might as well be playing two hand touch football with these offensive statistics. We've blown past any sort of rationality, especially within the passing game. I think worst of all is that people are looking at the game strictly in the context of numbers. Uninformed fans claiming that "X player is better than Unitas because look at the passing numbers, Unitas threw over 250 Interceptions." it's quite frankly ridiculous.

I hear all this talk about the modern receivers and breaking records and it just blows my mind. We went from a game that only the bravest would attempt to cross the middle of the field, to now if you even touch a guy too hard it's a penalty. There has to be some sort of happy medium.

At least rushing records are safe. We can still happily talk about the likes of Jim Brown, and Walter Payton.

[mrreality68]

I agree with you but the NFL is changing to keep players safe (remember all those law suits claiming the players never the risks and the dangers) but also want to keep the sport entertaining people love high scoring action packed games and unique end zone entertainment celebrations.(I hate those). So they made rules tougher on the Defenders and more fouls called to drive up the scores

[packs]

Maybe the NFL can take Manfred off baseball’s hands.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

I agree with you but the NFL is changing to keep players safe (remember all those law suits claiming the players never the risks and the dangers) but also want to keep the sport entertaining people love high scoring action packed games and unique end zone entertainment celebrations.(I hate those). So they made rules tougher on the Defenders and more fouls called to drive up the scores

I fully understand the "Keep players safe" arguement but no one could possibly think that having 300 pound men, mauling the hell out of one another on the gridiron would be good for their brain health.

I think we've also seen a notable rise in lower body injuries ever since more teams have moved to turf. I also agree that the high scoring games is what drives casual fan interest.

I thought the rules were okay in the mid 2000's. I'd be okay with going back to that.

[D. Bergin]

As somebody who's had a few concussions in his life, I'm happy to see less concussions in the NFL.

Also, hate seeing games dictated by the referee every time a defensive player brushes up against Tom Brady or Justin Herberts shoulder pads .00001 seconds after they release the ball, or they actually sack them, and don't properly cradle them on the way to the ground....even though it looks like sometimes, they are trying to cushion their sacks, so they don't get a penalty called on them....and they get the Roughing the Passer call anyways.

Certain QB's are also obviously much more protected then others...and it's usually contingent on how much they complain to the referees. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were always more protected then Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger.

I think how the game is played today, makes a guy like Jerry Rice, even more impressive. The stats he put up are almost Gretzky like, and he did it during a time when concussing a Wide Receiver running across the middle was celebrated and plastered on all the clip packages on the ESPN highlights.

Also, like Gretzky...Rice was never the biggest or fastest or scariest player on the field. Just the smartest, and with the reflexes and skill to only need the tiniest bit of separation in order to dominate.

Even with the more relaxed rules for QB's and WR's, there's nobody active right now within spitting distance of many of Rice's records. Julio Jones looked like he might have a chance in the Yards and Receptions categories, but he's already aging out of the sport. DeAndre Hopkins is a longshot, but he'll always have the PED tag on him, Larry Fitzgerald got close but finally got too old to play.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

As somebody who's had a few concussions in his life, I'm happy to see less concussions in the NFL.

Also, hate seeing games dictated by the referee every time a defensive player brushes up against Tom Brady or Justin Herberts shoulder pads .00001 seconds after they release the ball, or they actually sack them, and don't properly cradle them on the way to the ground....even though it looks like sometimes, they are trying to cushion their sacks, so they don't get a penalty called on them....and they get the Roughing the Passer call anyways.

Certain QB's are also obviously much more protected then others...and it's usually contingent on how much they complain to the referees. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were always more protected then Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger.

I think how the game is played today, makes a guy like Jerry Rice, even more impressive. The stats he put up are almost Gretzky like, and he did it during a time when concussing a Wide Receiver running across the middle was celebrated and plastered on all the clip packages on the ESPN highlights.

Also, like Gretzky...Rice was never the biggest or fastest or scariest player on the field. Just the smartest, and with the reflexes and skill to only need the tiniest bit of separation in order to dominate.

Even with the more relaxed rules for QB's and WR's, there's nobody active right now within spitting distance of many of Rice's records. Julio Jones looked like he might have a chance in the Yards and Receptions categories, but he's already aging out of the sport. DeAndre Hopkins is a longshot, but he'll always have the PED tag on him, Larry Fitzgerald got close but finally got too old to play.

Agree on many points. I think Larry Fitzgerald would've done immensely better had he had a competent QB for the majority of his career. We saw what he did with a couple of seasons with Warner and Palmer.

[BobbyStrawberry]

I barely follow the NFL these days, but it's the same in the NBA currently.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Seven

Agree on many points. I think Larry Fitzgerald would've done immensely better had he had a competent QB for the majority of his career. We saw what he did with a couple of seasons with Warner and Palmer.

True about Fitzgerald. Lots of bad QB’s during his career.

[Peter_Spaeth]

On football reference's HOF monitor, Rice literally has more than DOUBLE the points of the next receiver, Randy Moss. It's more absurd than even Gretzky. That he is the best WR ever is simply beyond any colorable dispute.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/hof/hofm_WR.htm