Now They Are Coasting
The Detroit Lions aren’t messing around. They are immolating their head coach Dan Campbell’s persona and they don’t care who they are playing week in and week out. This showed in Tampa Bay as they controlled every aspect of that game. The Buccaneers had no answers and the Lions didn’t even have a great game on offense with their lack of a rushing attack. Yet, QB Jared Goff had a great performance with 353 yards passing and two touchdown throws. Detroit’s defense held the Bucs in check on 3rd down with Tampa Bay going 2-12. The Lions schedule is very favorable considering they play in the NFC North. Their next two opponents are Baltimore and Las Vegas before their bye week. The Lions could conceivably be 7-1 at that point. Shocking I know, but it shouldn’t be if you’ve been paying attention.
Can They Be Stopped Fully?
There have only been two games so far this season in which the Miami Dolphins have failed to score at least 30 points. One of those games was their only loss so far this season and that was against the Buffalo Bills. On paper the Dolphins are on pace to have one of the highest scoring offenses in league history. Their next three opponents are Philadelphia, New England and Kansas City. The first time they played the Patriots they only scored 24 points, but they won that contest. With how the Patriots have been playing of late, it’s likely the Dolphins will score at least 30 points. The Eagles and Chiefs have solid defenses, but Miami’s offense is the best in the league. Those games could be shootouts of the highest order. With the Dolphins remaining opponents there are a few teams that they could easily top 40 or more points against. The argument can be made that Miami is the only team worth watching on a weekly basis if you want constant scoring.
The Game Is Getting Sloppy
I have to admit this wasn’t what I had in mind when I describe the NFL today as being a ‘pass happy’ league. What this data is telling me through the first six weeks of the 2023 season is that most teams have completed their preseason. The NFL that I grew up with had every team play at least 4 preseason games before their 16-game regular season. But the other thing that every team did was having the players actually practice with pads on for the entirety of training camp plus minicamp before that. If you actually sat through all of Sunday’s games either watching one or a few or just the Redzone channel like I do, there was some terrible football being played. These charts I’m sharing with you are indicative of that. It’s a two fold problem for the league. In the immediate future it’s a direct result of a lot less practice time in pads and less preseason games or the fact that teams just didn’t have their regular starters participate in any preseason games at all. I’m not arguing for a complete return to what it was. That will never happen, but what I am saying is that the players who wanted this are going to find out very soon that all that money will eventually dry up because fans are going to get wise about what they are watching on Sundays. When new TV deals in the not too distant future are re-negotiated, the networks won’t be clamoring to pay the billions they have in the past. Reason being of the public’s cord-cutting from live television and the near constant politicization of nearly every sport league. Yes, the NFL will still be the king among them, but I don’t believe they will be immune to this trend of bad football. I find it to be curious timing with the announcement of Flag Football making its debut in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Will the NFL be all-in with their league being flag football not long after the Olympics have been played? Don’t be surprised if that ends up coming to fruition.
westhesportsguy.com 