Worst Year Ever in the NFL for Overall Quality of Play?

[jethro_tull]

Not sure why but it seem as if there is an overall lack of quality play and quality teams this season, probably the worst I can remember.  Watching other teams last Sunday was dreadful. 

Basically the only really good teams are the Bills, Chiefs and Eagles.  The Eagles have the benefit of playing a .500 schedule so they are likely a distant third best. 

There are some rising teams but they have flaws and are winning because everyone else is so bad. 

No hard evidence of course just my impressions.   

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

There is a lot of season left for some of those bad teams to turn around. But I agree it has been a pretty lackluster season up to this point. But I do expect as I said, some of those bad teams to get better.

[HOUSE]

I been watching Gunsmoke. Last night Miss Kitty was cheating at cards

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by HOUSE

[Neo]

21 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

I been watching Gunsmoke. Last night Miss Kitty was cheating at cards

 

 

 

 

The thought of Miss Kitty cheating …

[Brueggs]

It might be because as Bills fans we are actually getting used to watching a great team on a regular basis, making other teams not look so good.    

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

I believe bad o-line play is the root cause of many bad performances.  Teams like to overdraft those flashy skill position guys and give little thought to keeping their QB's upright.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

Just now, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

I believe bad o-line play is the root cause of many bad performances.  Teams like to overdraft those flashy skill position guys and give little thought to keeping their QB's upright.

 

 OL play is definitely one of the biggest reasons, but lack of practice time is one of the driving forces for that. That coupled with kids wanting to be at "star" positions.....QBs, WRs, CBs & DEs.

 

 

[freddyjj]

1972 was a bad year too.  26 teams and only 7 won 10 or more games playing a 14 game schedule.  

 

15 teams at .500 or worse.   Bills were one of them as 4-9-1..

 

Same year the Dolphins went undefeated and won SB.  

[StHustle]

11 minutes ago, Brueggs said:

It might be because as Bills fans we are actually getting used to watching a great team on a regular basis, making other teams not look so good.    

While this is definitely a factor and a great point, their’s also been worse than usual overall play. Points scored is way down and a pair of legends have been playing backup QB quality ball. Hopefully the law of averages takes hold soon and this changes. I would love a super bowl regardless but would rather not have it come in a record worse year for overall competition. 

[John from Riverside]

I’m not sure if this is coming from the fact that the bills are Playing so well that they’re above the standard

[BullBuchanan]

It hasn't been good so far, and part of that is the traditionally good teams looking poor. In second half look out for the Titans, Vikings, Niners, and Raiders to outperform. The Browns are a darkhorse as well.

1994 was a terrible year for football. I remember 95 being bad too.

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

The quality of the Primetime games has been pretty bad so I think that can lower our perception of the league as a whole.

 

The Thursday night games have been unwatchable at times.

 

[LyndonvilleBill]

Well, they wanted parity🤪. Although I don't think they wanted this as the outcome.😁

[Aussie Joe]

1943 was worse…

 

The Steelers and Eagles had to merge and still they only went 5-4-1

[freddyjj]

3 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

1943 was worse…

 

The Steelers and Eagles had to merge and still they only went 5-4-1

So the merged team’s new name was the Main Line Pennsyltuckians?

[The Wiz]

24 minutes ago, Allen2Diggs said:

The quality of the Primetime games has been pretty bad so I think that can lower our perception of the league as a whole.

 

The Thursday night games have been unwatchable at times.

 

Luckily the Bills play on Thursday 2 weeks in a row at the end of November.

Edited October 26, 2022 by The Wiz

[Big Turk]

Not even close. You clearly weren't around for the lockout year in 1987 I think where they had scrub players cross the picket line to play and you had teams made up of construction workers, forklift drivers, beer delivery guys and every other random job you could think of with only a few weeks to get ready and play.

 

Now THAT was some terrible quality football.

 

Imagine the new QB of the Bills being some guy that was just at your house last week snaking out your sewer line with Roto Rooter.

 

Teams literally had open tryouts like you would see for walk-ons in college.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Big Turk

[billybrew1]

2 hours ago, jethro_tull said:

Not sure why but it seem as if there is an overall lack of quality play and quality teams this season, probably the worst I can remember.  Watching other teams last Sunday was dreadful. 

Basically the only really good teams are the Bills, Chiefs and Eagles.  The Eagles have the benefit of playing a .500 schedule so they are likely a distant third best. 

There are some rising teams but they have flaws and are winning because everyone else is so bad. 

No hard evidence of course just my impressions.   

I don’t know? Didn’t it used to be just the colts and pats? And the winner, usually the pats unfortunately, played the best nfc team… usually the giants?

Didn’t it?

[Kaenon]

Hmm, I feel like the Bills are playing pretty good.

 

This is the Bills section and not Around the NFL, right?

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

I believe bad o-line play is the root cause of many bad performances.  Teams like to overdraft those flashy skill position guys and give little thought to keeping their QB's upright.

 

I don't think teams are undervaluing OL in the draft. I think what's happening is there is less quality OL talent entering the draft than ever before, while on the other side of the ball there are more freakishly talented DL than ever before. Plus it feels like o-linemen are more injury prone than other positions, and it only takes one starter going down to injury to kill the entire unit. You'd have to devote a ridiculous amount of draft capital to build a consistently top tier OL because you need 5 good ones and at least a couple good depth players behind them. That's a lot harder than finding one stud pass rusher or one stud WR who singlehandedly can change a game. A stud LT can't change a game if the 4 guys next to him aren't up to par.

 

Because of poor OL play across the league teams have had to rely on the quick passing game and slowly work their way down the field more than we've seen in the last few years. This type of offense is more prone to mistakes and if you don't have a mobile QB capable of escaping trouble you're dead on arrival against any defense that can create a decent amount of pressure.

 

I also think fans have gotten a little too accustomed to explosive offenses over the past decade. Football with great defensive play is still fun to watch and I would say the drop in the quality of offenses has coincided with a rise in the quality of defenses. When fans talk about a drop in the quality of games what they really mean is less scoring.

[Mikie2times]

As a a person who plays predominantly underdogs, it has been a great year. Only a couple teams can cover a TD with any consistency and oddsmakers still have not adjusted.  

Edited October 26, 2022 by KzooMike

[Mikie2times]

13 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I don't think teams are undervaluing OL in the draft. I think what's happening is there is less quality OL talent entering the draft than ever before, while on the other side of the ball there are more freakishly talented DL than ever before. Plus it feels like o-linemen are more injury prone than other positions, and it only takes one starter going down to injury to kill the entire unit. You'd have to devote a ridiculous amount of draft capital to build a consistently top tier OL because you need 5 good ones and at least a couple good depth players behind them. That's a lot harder than finding one stud pass rusher or one stud WR who singlehandedly can change a game. A stud LT can't change a game if the 4 guys next to him aren't up to par.

 

Because of poor OL play across the league teams have had to rely on the quick passing game and slowly work their way down the field more than we've seen in the last few years. This type of offense is more prone to mistakes and if you don't have a mobile QB capable of escaping trouble you're dead on arrival against any defense that can create a decent amount of pressure.

 

I also think fans have gotten a little too accustomed to explosive offenses over the past decade. Football with great defensive play is still fun to watch and I would say the drop in the quality of offenses has coincided with a rise in the quality of defenses. When fans talk about a drop in the quality of games what they really mean is less scoring.

Really great post. The rise of spread offenses. Pass, Pass, Pass. Some lineman rarely are in a three point stance. Others play exclusively out of shotgun. Emphasis on speed and position players on offense. Quick routes. Spread them out. Get a multi dimensional QB, better hit rate, easier on the offensive line. Meanwhile defensive players just keep getting bigger, faster, stronger. Much larger paydays.

 

Personally, I'm good with it. I hated how the NFL slanted the game towards throwing with officiating in the late 90's. The game should have a degree of balance. It lent itself to more identity around the league and teams winning with different formulas, which in turn didn't allow teams to fixate on the same roster mode. At times, defenses should be dominant. Watching a great running game or defense is appealing. If I wanted arena ball I would watch it. Perhaps this is how the balance gets restored.  

[HappyDays]

30 minutes ago, KzooMike said:

Personally, I'm good with it. I hated how the NFL slanted the game towards throwing with officiating in the late 90's. The game should have a degree of balance. It lent itself to more identity around the league and teams winning with different formulas, which in turn didn't allow teams to fixate on the same roster mode. At times, defenses should be dominant. Watching a great running game or defense is appealing. If I wanted arena ball I would watch it. Perhaps this is how the balance gets restored.  

 

Agreed. I actually get bored by shootouts. Especially if it's more because of bad defense on both sides. That isn't fun, it's just a coin flip.

 

The one problem the NFL has right now, and this is going to sound weird, is Allen and Mahomes. Let me explain. Those two are both playing at a historically great level. I'm not sure fans have fully come to terms with that yet. Even great QBs like Manning and Brady, if you called the exact right defensive play and had enough defensive talent you could beat them on a play to play basis. There are plays like that against Allen and Mahomes where they still beat you anyways. You do everything exactly right and they turn it into a 1st down or TD. And in between these ridiculous impossible plays they're also very consistent at the boring nitpicky things that made Manning and Brady great, as opposed to someone like Lamar Jackson who does the impossible crazy plays but isn't consistent enough with the fundamentals.

 

So defenses are overtaking offenses this year, but you have these two freaks of nature doing things the league has never seen before. I think their historically great play is making the rest of the NFL look boring by comparison. It's not that offenses have gotten worse, it's that defenses have gotten better but Allen and Mahomes are fooling everybody into thinking offenses should still have the upper hand. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone that reads this but that's how I see it.

[Bills fan since 87]

2 hours ago, freddyjj said:

So the merged team’s new name was the Main Line Pennsyltuckians?

 

They called them the Philadelphia/Pittsburgh Steagels.....Really

[Airseven]

Indeed quality of play seems lackluster on average this season. Several seemingly “elite” teams, a couple dregs, and about 25 mediocre teams wallowing in poor QB play and inconsistency. This breed of parity is more boring than competitive.

[Joe Ferguson forever]

Parity...I like it so long as we're the best.

[Boatdrinks]

1 hour ago, billybrew1 said:

I don’t know? Didn’t it used to be just the colts and pats? And the winner, usually the pats unfortunately, played the best nfc team… usually the giants?

Didn’t it?

Not really. In the end likely the Colts and Pats, but there were other very good teams that just happened to fall to a couple truly elite teams. The overall quality of play was very good because there were many quality QBs. You will always have a couple superior quality QBs and a drop off after that. The current problem is that the drop off is huge. Throw in the league wide OL issue and there just aren’t many offenses playing at a high level. Regarding the OPs take, ever is a very long time. As others have pointed out there have been bad years every couple decades or so. 

[AlfaBill]

3 hours ago, Brueggs said:

It might be because as Bills fans we are actually getting used to watching a great team on a regular basis, making other teams not look so good.    

No. It’s definitely worse. There are no good teams only a few great teams some mediocre ones and a bunch of crap. 

Edited October 26, 2022 by AlfaBill

[Scott7975]

I had similar thoughts in another thread.  I wouldnt say its the worst ever but its definitely worse than a lot of recent years.  A lot of contributing factors.  Some of which include losing elite QBs like Big Ben, againg vets like Brady not retiring and playing like crap, Rodgers is probably more of a talent issue on his team but he is still getting up there in age, Wilson looks washed and I dont think its just Hackett but I'm sure its part of it.  There just isnt a lot of good QB play in the league right now.  Most of these rookies are just not very good.  At least not yet.  Even Herbert isnt doing so well this season and that team is stacked with talent. The Ravens dont have the defense we are use to seeing and more teams are able to effectively slow down Lamar now so they arent doing so hot lately either.

 

I think someone essentially said earlier that defense is catching up.  I think thats true as well.  Also, someone that really knows football, I know basics but not enough to know this... does anyone think that a lot of defenses are using a lot of two high safety looks now have anything to do with this topic?  It seems to be the best defensive looks to slow down the high powered offense.

[Mikie2times]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Agreed. I actually get bored by shootouts. Especially if it's more because of bad defense on both sides. That isn't fun, it's just a coin flip.

 

The one problem the NFL has right now, and this is going to sound weird, is Allen and Mahomes. Let me explain. Those two are both playing at a historically great level. I'm not sure fans have fully come to terms with that yet. Even great QBs like Manning and Brady, if you called the exact right defensive play and had enough defensive talent you could beat them on a play to play basis. There are plays like that against Allen and Mahomes where they still beat you anyways. You do everything exactly right and they turn it into a 1st down or TD. And in between these ridiculous impossible plays they're also very consistent at the boring nitpicky things that made Manning and Brady great, as opposed to someone like Lamar Jackson who does the impossible crazy plays but isn't consistent enough with the fundamentals.

 

So defenses are overtaking offenses this year, but you have these two freaks of nature doing things the league has never seen before. I think their historically great play is making the rest of the NFL look boring by comparison. It's not that offenses have gotten worse, it's that defenses have gotten better but Allen and Mahomes are fooling everybody into thinking offenses should still have the upper hand. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone that reads this but that's how I see it.

No, I totally get what you're saying and again, I largely agree. Love the topic, but ya, it's as if Allen and Mahomes are the only two that seem to have cracked the code. You mention some reasons which I agree with. I think it's also the mobility combined with elite arm talent. No other QB's have that combination. I will not put Lamar in that category, he can't come close to making the throws those two make. You can't rush in a uncontained way, so the pass rush is slow. You can't blitz them. They will take the check down when you play soft. Even when you finally get a win, they're likely to break contain and create on a busted play. You can stop them but for how long? 

 

The league rules forced teams to build in a way to compete against the passing game. Teams don't have an identity, they all blend together, and that isn't good for the league. Each team is trying to get an elite pass rush, CB, great WR's, and of course franchise QB. It's all the same formula. In previous eras you had teams heavily focused on building an elite defense and running game and they had that identity (Pittsburgh). You has teams that were pass centric, like Miami and the Colts. Bills and the no huddle. SF and the west coast offense. Defensive juggernauts like Baltimore. To me the diversity really forced teams to create balance or build to beat divisional teams and hope your model would hold up against others, but Like you said, we have the Allen/Mahomes. Only more aggressive DB play can stop that train and we aren't going to see that. So is this what the NFL wanted? Two QB's dueling for a decade in a two man show similar to Larry and Magic? It's a great plot line for awhile, but this could last a very long time (not shedding a tear at that notion, but again, not good for the league in my opinion).

 

[HappyDays]

2 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

does anyone think that a lot of defenses are using a lot of two high safety looks now have anything to do with this topic?  It seems to be the best defensive looks to slow down the high powered offense.

 

Yes, it used to be easier to defeat those looks when OL talent was on par with DL talent. Right now 4 DL are beating 5 OL more often than not, so offenses can't just run the ball to force defenses out of those looks and the QB can't hold the ball long enough to beat cover 2 over the top. So offenses are playing small ball dinking and dunking their way down the field. One sack or one drop or one inaccurate pass could kill the whole drive. The way that McDermott schemes his defense to force offenses into long drives, that's what the whole league is doing now.

[Scott7975]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yes, it used to be easier to defeat those looks when OL talent was on par with DL talent. Right now 4 DL are beating 5 OL more often than not, so offenses can't just run the ball to force defenses out of those looks and the QB can't hold the ball long enough to beat cover 2 over the top. So offenses are playing small ball dinking and dunking their way down the field. One sack or one drop or one inaccurate pass could kill the whole drive. The way that McDermott schemes his defense to force offenses into long drives, that's what the whole league is doing now.

 

Yeah, thats pretty much how I've been seeing it.  

[JoshAllin]

Also lots of running backs that were explosive last year look pretty awful compared to now. Looks like teams are gonna need an Allen, Mahomes, Hurts for these two high defenses

[US Egg]

3 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

1943 was worse…

 

The Steelers and Eagles had to merge and still they only went 5-4-1

…friggin World Wars.

[Since1981]

Oct 6, 2022–Tom Brady sounds off: “There's a lot of bad football in the league this year”

 

That quote didn’t age well. Neither did Tommy! Bahahaha 

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

I believe bad o-line play is the root cause of many bad performances.  Teams like to overdraft those flashy skill position guys and give little thought to keeping their QB's upright.

 

 

Has nothing to do with drafting.    If it did then there would still be have's and have not's with regard to OL play..........and there aren't any have's.   It's a practice and continuity issue.   

[Joe Ferguson forever]

47 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

I had similar thoughts in another thread.  I wouldnt say its the worst ever but its definitely worse than a lot of recent years.  A lot of contributing factors.  Some of which include losing elite QBs like Big Ben, againg vets like Brady not retiring and playing like crap, Rodgers is probably more of a talent issue on his team but he is still getting up there in age, Wilson looks washed and I dont think its just Hackett but I'm sure its part of it.  There just isnt a lot of good QB play in the league right now.  Most of these rookies are just not very good.  At least not yet.  Even Herbert isnt doing so well this season and that team is stacked with talent. The Ravens dont have the defense we are use to seeing and more teams are able to effectively slow down Lamar now so they arent doing so hot lately either.

 

I think someone essentially said earlier that defense is catching up.  I think thats true as well.  Also, someone that really knows football, I know basics but not enough to know this... does anyone think that a lot of defenses are using a lot of two high safety looks now have anything to do with this topic?  It seems to be the best defensive looks to slow down the high powered offense.

idk, the Bills Chiefs game was another classic.  Mahomes made throws no one could possibly defend without a PI penalty in the SF game.  Giants and Jets playing well.  Vikings are good.  Not convinced yet on the Eagles - could pull a Bills Trent Edwards year.  And the wanna be's will likely be better as the season grinds on.  I'm enjoying it.

[Thurman#1]

4 hours ago, jethro_tull said:

Not sure why but it seem as if there is an overall lack of quality play and quality teams this season, probably the worst I can remember.  Watching other teams last Sunday was dreadful. 

Basically the only really good teams are the Bills, Chiefs and Eagles.  The Eagles have the benefit of playing a .500 schedule so they are likely a distant third best. 

There are some rising teams but they have flaws and are winning because everyone else is so bad. 

No hard evidence of course just my impressions.   

 

 

I hear you, but I don't really agree. There are usually just a few really good teams.

 

Seems to me there's more mediocrity. The middle 60%, the center of the bell curve, is just wider, now more like the middle 80%. No absolutely horrible teams or great ones outside the Chiefs and Bills. It's parity squared.

 

Teams like the Giants, Vikes and Cowboys and such aren't up with the Bills but they're playing good ball.

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

 

Agreed. I actually get bored by shootouts. Especially if it's more because of bad defense on both sides. That isn't fun, it's just a coin flip.

 

The one problem the NFL has right now, and this is going to sound weird, is Allen and Mahomes. Let me explain. Those two are both playing at a historically great level. I'm not sure fans have fully come to terms with that yet. Even great QBs like Manning and Brady, if you called the exact right defensive play and had enough defensive talent you could beat them on a play to play basis. There are plays like that against Allen and Mahomes where they still beat you anyways. You do everything exactly right and they turn it into a 1st down or TD. And in between these ridiculous impossible plays they're also very consistent at the boring nitpicky things that made Manning and Brady great, as opposed to someone like Lamar Jackson who does the impossible crazy plays but isn't consistent enough with the fundamentals.

 

So defenses are overtaking offenses this year, but you have these two freaks of nature doing things the league has never seen before. I think their historically great play is making the rest of the NFL look boring by comparison. It's not that offenses have gotten worse, it's that defenses have gotten better but Allen and Mahomes are fooling everybody into thinking offenses should still have the upper hand. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone that reads this but that's how I see it.

 

 

There was a pretty substantial period of time........about a decade.........when Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees were playing at a level miles above everyone else.   

[buffblue]

It has to be up there. The NFL in general has been painful to watch this year, and not just the primetime games