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purplefaithful · 11-18-2018, 05:47 PM

Quote:
"... If you're on defense, they don't let you do a damn thing to stop (offenses). It's not a fair fight anymore."Former All-Pro CB Champ Bailey

There are 31 quarterbacks -- THIRTY-ONE -- completing at least 60 percent of their passes. Sixteen of them have at least 15 touchdown passes after nine weeks and 16 wide receivers are on pace for 100 receptions. Statistics that were once milestones have become business as usual.
The NFL’s decision-makers and rules mavens have set offenses free to the delight of a points-adoring, fantasy-football-playing public. So much so that there might be an August night in 2028 or so in Canton, Ohio, where the Hall of Fame class is two quarterbacks and three wide receivers because, well, they’ve got all the numbers.http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/...ying-field

11-18-2018, 06:43 PM

the nfl obviously does not want a level playing field

11-18-2018, 07:08 PM

Quote: @"Maple Surple" said:
the nfl obviously does not want a level playing field

NFL’s TV ratings anxiety cools: ‘This year they’ve got a blockbuster’
For the moment, league and TV executives can exhale. Five weeks into the season — a large enough sample size to offer something of a progress report — the returns are plenty encouraging.
CBS’s NFL audience is up 7 percent; FOX’s is down 2 percent; NBC’s Sunday Night viewership is basically flat; and ESPN’s Monday Night broadcast is down 4 percent, but with several marquee matchups still to come. All told, the league’s ratings are up a few percentage points.
[The NFL’s TV ratings have become a weekly referendum on everything]
Now consider that relative stability in a larger context: In September, the top 15 TV shows were all NFL games. Cable entertainment programming — not including news and sports — is down 11 percent this fall. And on Monday Night, the New Orleans Saints and Redskins more than doubled the audience of a playoff matchup between two of baseball’s most iconic teams, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
“The question was where is the floor going to be,” said Michael Mulvihill, executive vice president of research for Fox Sports. “Were we going to have more sharp declines or were we going to stabilize? Our hope was to stabilize.”
Added Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports: “The arrows are pointing up. The important thing is that we’re still dominant.”
The leading reason for the good news, several media and league executives said, has a shockingly simple explanation: better football. Through five weeks, the league has set a record for scoring (it’s up 11 percent from last year, the largest single jump since 1975), while the average margin of victory (counting ties) is just 9.96 points, which would be the lowest since 1932. Teams in big markets, meanwhile, have had renewed success, driving up ratings in Los Angeles, where the Rams are undefeated, and in Chicago, where ratings have jumped around 50 percent, thanks to the first place Bears.
The easiest explanation for the offensive outburst has been better quarterback play, boosted both by changing enforcement of roughing the passer rules and a wave of young talent, (just a few years after some in the league worried about the health of the position). Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City and Jared Goff in Los Angeles look like burgeoning stars, while rookies Sam Darnoldand Baker Mayfield have made doormats like the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns watchable.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/20...edirect=on&utm_term=.ff14c75e210f