So You Like Offensive Football, Right!?

[Kentis]

How the NFL is manipulating games in 2020: Fewer holding calls, faster games and way more offense
 
           Since the Packers are the premier holding team in the NFL, naturally they’re 3-0!   
In its entire 100-year history, the NFL has never opened a season on the kind of scoring tear we've seen in 2020. Teams are averaging 24.7 offensive points per game during the first three weeks, 16% better than 2019 over the same period, and 22% higher than their average during the previous two decades.
There are a number of theories for the surge, from high-level quarterback play to the coronavirus pandemic-related loss of home-crowd advantage. All have merits. But there is another direct correlation, an inorganic root emanating from the league office. At the direction of its new leadership team, on-field officials have changed the way they enforce penalties -- especially offensive holding -- in a way that is too dramatic to ignore.
The decision has not only helped offenses, by cutting their penalty yards in half, but it also has led to slightly quicker games and certainly less public discussion about officiating.
Few fans would object to such aesthetics, and you've heard no complaints from teams. It's fair to ask whether the league can or will credibly sustain this effort, and to question where it will lead to as players and coaches test their new boundaries. More than anything, this episode is a stark reminder of how the NFL can manipulate its product without changing a single rule. It is football's equivalent to juicing the ball, an artificial injection of energy into the game.

ESPN has made multiple requests to interview the NFL's officiating leadership team about this and other developments during the past few months. All have been declined. But retired referee Walt Anderson, who has effectively taken control of the department as its new senior vice president of training and development, told the league's website recently that he wants officials focused on "clear and obvious" fouls and not "all of a sudden to start calling the ticky-tack stuff." Anderson acknowledged that it's what "the NFL likes and what the audience likes."
Through the first 48 games of 2020, officials have thrown flags for 95 offensive holding penalties. That's 59% fewer than in 2019, when they were operating under instructions to increase such penalties, and 45% lower than the previous five-year average. At the same time, flags for defensive pass interference have risen 22% from 2019 to 72, the most through three weeks since at least 2001. Despite the increase in pass interference, the league's current average of 13.63 flags per game is its lowest through three weeks of a season since 2001.

More at the link:
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30003263/how-nfl-manipulating-scoring-2020-fewer-holding-calls-faster-games-way-more-offense

[Guest]

Vikings football has been quite offensive this year....

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:
Vikings football has been quite offensive this year....

I enjoyed the 1st half last week...  B)  before reality reared it’s ugly head! 

[Guest]

We don’t need any new offensive linemen.  Just need to teach them to hold better.

[Guest]

2 - 0-3 teams put up 65 points tonight.

The record for touchdowns in a weekend was 85 . 3? Years ago.

I believe there were 100 tds last weekend I

 Scott Hanson said it as red zone was ending.

[Guest]

Meh.....Give me a back breaking defense crackin' fools any day of the week.  This isn't basketball.

[Guest]

@ThunderGod said:
We don’t need any new offensive linemen.  Just need to teach them to hold better.

All we need to do is hire the Packers offensive line coach, he would be worth every penny.

[Guest]

It's edging towards arena football.  I kind of enjoy defense and some strategy/challenge as opposed to just exchanging scores over and over while defending is an afterthought.

[Guest]

With NFL teams scoring at a record pace, this is foreign territory for Vikings coach Mike ZimmerVikings coach Mike Zimmer dreams at night about winning games 13-10. But low scoring isn't realistic right now, meaning his teams will have to win shootouts until the defense gets healthy and more experienced.

Mike Zimmer fired an offensive coordinator only 13 games after he hired him because he didn’t run the ball enough. Once, Zimmer called for a two-point conversion in a huff after his rookie kicker missed one field goal. In a preseason game.
Patience doesn’t rank high on Zimmer’s list of coaching strengths. He expects things to be done a certain way. Except, 2020 doesn’t follow anyone’s script.
This season already has careened outside of Zim’s diagram for how he prefers things to operate. The Vikings head coach will need to locate a reservoir of patience and adaptability to avoid going completely bonkers.
First, the uncontrollable. Or largely uncontrollable.
The events of last week revealed the tenuous nature of the NFL’s attempt to play this season during a pandemic outside of a secured bubble.
An outbreak of coronavirus positives in the Tennessee Titans locker room also created disruption for their most recent opponent. The Vikings were forced to evacuate their facility one day, skip one full day of on-field preparation and institute additional intensive safety protocols and measures the remainder of the week.
Coaches hate distractions. Trying to keep the virus at bay is a lifestyle more than a distraction, and the NFL’s first major outbreak created an extra layer of concern and complications that shifted hypotheticals to reality.
Thankfully, the Vikings have avoided their own outbreak after being exposed to the Titans. For now, at least. If the team continues to report no positive cases through Sunday, the Vikings will have earned its first win of the season.
Zimmer told his team that the schedule interruption provides no excuses for how the Vikings perform Sunday in Houston. That’s according to General Manager Rick Spielman, who relayed Zimmer’s “no excuses” message to reporters. Zimmer responded by noting that his boss shouldn’t share what he tells his players with reporters.
Spielman didn’t exactly give away trade secrets, but an 0-3 start has made his coach a little cranky.
Zimmer boasted before the season that “I’ve never had a bad defense.” His defense currently is one of the NFL’s worst. The Vikings rank 31st out of 32 teams in scoring defense, allowing 34 points per game. They are giving up 440 yards per game, third worst in the league.
Zimmer dreams at night about winning games 13-10. A few years ago, the Chiefs and Rams shot off offensive fireworks in a game that ended with a 54-51 final score. Zimmer grumbled, “It’s not my cup of tea. Might run me out of football.”
His visual blueprint needs tinkering. Maybe not 54-51, but low scoring isn’t realistic right now.
Zimmer would rather gargle vinegar than accept a football track meet, but his team will need to win shootouts to have a chance this season, at least until his defense can A) get healthy and B) get more experience.
According to ESPN, the scoring average has skyrocketed to 24.7 points per game — a 22% increase from Weeks 1-3 over the previous two decades. That substantial increase is due in large part to a sharp decline in offensive holding penalties, which likely isn’t helping Zimmer’s mood.
Zimmer has publicly challenged his veteran offense to take charge in critical situations. In other words, his defense is vulnerable. That side looks overwhelmed in trying to hold offenses in check.
Zimmer’s defense already faced a steep curve with roster turnover in the secondary. Relying on rookies and inexperienced cornerbacks in today’s NFL basically invites tough times.
Nose tackle Michael Pierce, the prized offseason addition, opted out for health reasons. Then take away Danielle Hunter, who clearly had more than a “tweak” since he’s still sidelined by injury, and Anthony Barr, their defensive signal-caller and second-best linebacker who is out for the season.
This is not what Zimmer envisioned. He sounded exasperated after witnessing two clunkers and one late meltdown.
The Vikings found a formula last week that makes sense. Feed the ball to Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen and hope to score a lot of points — enough to compensate for a bad defense.
Zimmer might hate the way that plan sounds, but this is their new normal.
https://www.startribune.com/with-nfl-tea...572627851/