With the 2007 NFL regular season drawing to a close, it's worth spotlighting three developments that have rocked my world this fall...
1. Where's the Excitement?
Coming into September, I was ready for a season full of nail-biting Sundays—but the first few weeks of the year were anything but enthralling.
The games weren't competitive. Teams played halfheartedly. Players who get paid millions of dollars to play football made careless, gutless mistakes.
As a fan, I was heartbroken. HELLO—the National Football League is supposed to be the best of the best. Instead, I found myself literally falling asleep more than half the time.
Sure, there've been a few encouraging upsets here and there—but as a whole the NFL has been shamefully unentertaining. The Patriots have dominated teams—real-live PROFESSIONAL teams—by an average of 20 points a game.
Today's Must Reads
That's pitiful.
With heart, anything is possible—but these teams and players aren’t showing that to the fans who live and breathe for good NFL action.
2. The Decline of the Running Back
It used to be that the running back was the staple of an NFL offense.
Not anymore.
Receivers have become the go-to option for most teams, with the running game an afterthought at best.
Look at Pittsburgh, a classic smashmouth team. Steelers RB Willie Parker has averaged just 3.8 yards per carry this year, while QB Ben Roethlisberger has become the focal point of the offense.
Receivers are becoming more important than running backs in the fantasy world too. Of course there are obvious exceptions—Joseph Addai and Adrian Peterson—but even LaDainian Tomlinson, last years MVP, is playing as an average back this year, and Larry Johnson, Steven Jackson, and Frank Gore have all disappointed.
So please, somebody explain to me...what happened to the elite running back?!
3. Blame the Refs
Officials don’t play the games—the players do.
But when officials make game-changing decisions, they sometimes overstep their proper bounds.
Of course, NFL refs are only human—but some of the blown calls this season have been inexcusable. Like the players, officials get paid big-time money to do their jobs the right way—and some of them need to have their "licenses" revoked.
As the playoff chase heats up, refs around the league have to get their acts together. There’s no excuse for incompetence.
As I see it, officials are getting emotionally attached to teams like the Patriots, abandoning their zone of play,and simply ruining the game that we know and love.
Fans, do you hear my pain?!
comments (7) write a comment »
write a new comment
9 months ago
Good stuff!!! I definitely agree with number 2, the running backs have been duds this year. LJ has been the biggest disappointment as far as running backs this year. Check this out I wrote it a couple weeks ago. http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/4296-NFL-The_NFL_s_Biggest_Busts_in_2007-301107
9 months ago
Man, there have been so many botched calls this season, I don't know where to start. You'd think that video replay would make it damn near impossible to miss them, but evidently not.
Can I go on record to point out that some of the officials appear to be in their sixties or seventies. Not to discriminate by age or anything, but don't most sports cap their referees at age forty-five or so...?
9 months ago
i definetely agree....
i think it's horrible that what is supposed to be a pro sport has so many BAD refs...
and i think age....sometimes is a factor.
why with alot of professions i.e. judges, doctors, and refs....you have to be so old to be apart of?!?
9 months ago
How can you say Roethlesberger is the focal point of the Steelers offense? You cite Parker's mediocre YPC numbers, however, considering that stat, the fact he's second in the entire league in rushing shows just how much HE is the focal point of the offense, to have enough carries to be number two in the league.
from 9 months ago
yes he is the number back in the lead as far as rushing yards....
but those totals are nothing compared to last years backs.
rushing yards as a whole are down in the league...
him being in 2nd place with that average shows how much the run has been stifled.
9 months ago
I feel your pain, Amina, I feel it bad. I've been somewhat turned off from the NFL ever since my beloved Oilers packed up and moved out of town. Lucky for me, right after we moved away, Houston got the Texans.
Following the league has seemingly become a once a week chore I almost have to make myself turn the TV on. The closest thing I have to a favorite team is the Titans, and even then, I can't seem to get too excited about one of the most marketable young players in the league Vince Young. Is there some sort of medication that I can get a prescription for to fall in love with the NFL as others have?
Either that, or can the NFL go to a BCS system so I can actually have a legitimate reason for hating it?
Good first article...just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed it, and that I feel your pain.
9 months ago
Yeah, this has been a brutal NFL season. I agree with #2 myself, being a 49ers fan I was expecting Frank Gore to rush for 2200 yards this season, instead he'll be lucky to get to 1000.
By the midpoint of the season it was all about the Patriots, Colts and Cowboys, there was no excitement already. The only feel good story of the year has been the Cleveland Browns, wow have they been a fun team to watch this year, and they should only get better.
And yes, the officiating, it's obvious refs want the Pats and Colts to win and it needs to stop. These games are supposed to be fair. That Pats-Ravens game was like watching a WWF match. It was pitiful.
write a new comment