The NFL has become a fantasy league. Celebrating the passing stats. of Brees, Rodgers, Brady et.al. is silly. The players may be bigger,stronger and faster but the rules restrict the defenders so much that many receivers are running free because the LBs and DBs are afraid to make any contact. When a fifty year old QB is able to wins the Super Bowl maybe they will get the message. The Giants should hate this trend because the running game is mostly dead.
Case in point was that TD that Brady ran for Sunday night. DL was so scared of getting called for roughing the passer that he let Brady ("Tom", as he's affectionately referred to by Al Michaels) go, enabling Brady to waddle into the end zone virtually untouched.
Even Brady would agree. On his regular Monday radio interview he said: "I think now, in some ways, pro football is more glorified college football. Maybe the transition is a more similar game than what it used to be when I first started. "I think football now, removing some of the physical elements of the game, it's more of a space game, you see a lot of college plays more in the pro game than what I remember when I started. That's kind of how things have went over the last bunch of years."
Indeed. Defenders have to walk on egg shells these days, and I have still seen no evidence of injuries being reduced as a result of such rules.
This is why building a strong defense is not a good strategy in today's NFL. Obviously you want a pass rush and DB's who can cover, but it's far better to have a great offense and an ok defense than it is to have an ok offense and a great defense.
Case in point the Kansas City Chiefs. That defense is awful. Their offense is great. Used to be defense wins championships but I'm not sure anyomore. The last two Super Bowls were shoot outs. I enjoy some of the offense but I do miss hard hitting defensive games.
I think the real problem is the pick play that every single team runs. They are illegal, but somehow within 5 yards of the LOS they aren't illegal. It allows every single wide receiver to get open. It is stupid.