With the result of last night's game between the Chiefs and the Rams, for the first time in NFL History two teams scored over 50 points EACH! It was the highest scoring game in Monday Night Football history! And it was the 3rd highest combined score in NFL history! Most importantly, it was one of the most entertaining football games of all time, harking back to the good old days of the last 5 years...WHAT??? That's right! 9 of the 19 highest scoring games have occurred in the last 5 years! (From Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_scoring_NFL_games) Points scored Score Winning team Losing team Date Ref 113 72–41 Washington Redskins New York Giants November 27, 1966 [1] 106 58–48 Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns November 28, 2004 [2] 105 54–51 Los Angeles Rams Kansas City Chiefs November 19, 2018 [3] 101 52–49 Oakland Raiders Houston Oilers December 22, 1963 [4] 101 52–49 New Orleans Saints New York Giants November 1, 2015 [5] 99 51–48 (OT) Seattle Seahawks Kansas City Chiefs November 27, 1983 [6] 99 51–48 Denver Broncos Dallas Cowboys October 6, 2013 [7] 98 54–44 San Diego Chargers Pittsburgh Steelers December 8, 1985 [8] 96 51–45 Cleveland Browns Cincinnati Bengals September 16, 2007 [9] 96 51–45 (OT) New York Jets Miami Dolphins September 21, 1986 [10] 95 48–47 Green Bay Packers Washington Redskins October 17, 1983 [11] 90 49–41 San Diego Chargers Cincinnati Bengals November 12, 2006 [12] 90 52–38 New Orleans Saints Detroit Lions October 15, 2017 [13] 89 48–41 New Orleans Saints Arizona Cardinals December 18, 2016 [14] 88 48–40 Tampa Bay Buccaneers New Orleans Saints September 9, 2018 [15] 87 45–42 (OT) Oakland Raiders Cleveland Browns September 30, 2018 [16] 85 51–34 Pittsburgh Steelers Indianapolis Colts October 26, 2014 [17] 83 43–40 New England Patriots Kansas City Chiefs October Meanwhile, what have the NY Jets been doing over these past 5 seasons (actually for years prior)? Sticking to their dogmatic belief that they can build a "shut down" defense and win games 17-14, and win a SB with that approach! This flies in the face of reality! The NFL has made a conscious, business model decision that the fans want to see high scoring games, and they have rigged the rules and how games are refereed to get those outcomes. So it's sheer folly and pigheaded ignorance to go against this obvious tide. Of course, are there any more pigheaded and ignorant owners than the Johnson Boys who not only have doggedly ignored this trend, but they EXTENDED Bowles and Macc who have continued the "defense first" approach for the past four years! If anyone needs more convincing that times have indeed change, there's this article in today's Sports Illustrated SI.com: https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/11/20/chiefs-rams-nfl-new-era-high-scoring-offenses-mnf It underscores that the NFL has entered into a whole new era of high-scoring, shoot-out football, because that's exactly what the fans - and therefore the owners interested in keeping those fans - want. So the only question left for Jets fans is: When will the Johnson Boys wake up?
With the Browns improving and the Redskins in first (for now), if the Johnsons don't get it right this offseason, they might be the new worst owners in the NFL.
Whatever that game last night was, it wasn't Football. If that's what the NFL wants to promote, then I'm not interested. I'm sure they can replace me with plenty of casual flag football fans. I hope that philosophy works out better for them than it has for NASCAR.
I can appreciate your sentiments, but think about it: what is the point of ANY sporting contest? To score points! Nobody - well almost nobody - wants to watch a 0 - 0 contest. And as excited as fans get when their team makes a great defensive play, that excitement is outdone by the excitement shown when their team scores. (I wonder if there have been any studies done to confirm this using noise meters during games?). I'm sure there's a lot of fans like you who love defense and consider offense poison, but most fans don't agree. Get used to to aerial circuses. On the other hand though, as a Jets fan you might still continue to see them stick with the "old school" way no matter what...that seems to be their philosophy for almost 40 years, so why change now?
Get used to it. The future of football is some form of the "7 on 7" type variety. It has to be this way. Players are getting bigger and stronger and the injuries need to lessened. I'm sad because I too liked the slobber-knocking type form of football but it's going the way of the caveman.
I get it--for the casual fan. Yet, I enjoy a good 6-3 slobberknocker over a 54-51 track meet for the same reason I prefer "Silence of the Lambs" or "Fargo" to "Saw III" or "Transformers"-- quality drama over cheap thrills. I do find it funny after decades following this team that I'm now more likely to give up on the NFL altogether before I give up on the Jets. That game last night was unpalatable, and it wasn't the first one this year.
I agree with you on giving up on the NFL entirely, but for a different reason: I HATE the micro-managing by the coaches! And the search for "perfection" they seemed focused on, with the instant replay and radios in the QB's helmet! With everything they've done, they've made it into a video game with real people instead of digital ones. Personally, I would like to see them go back to the era when it players played both offense and defense and they used very limited protective gear - a helmet with no face mask or a single bar, no face shields, etc.; one-layer shoulder pads, no pads anywhere else, a protective cup, and cleats. No gloves, no forearm pads. Although counter-intuitive, I believe injuries would be less because players wouldn't be so inclined to use their armor-encased bodies as weapons, and having to play both ways, would be less inclined to dish out gratuitous punishment when they knew they would be on the other side at some point. Of course my wishful thinking will have as much effect as yours: nothing. We're not in charge. Our only choice is to watch or not. For me, I'd rather watch a shoot out than mud drying, so if the Jets refuse to change, then I'll probably give up football entirely.
While I think the NFL is getting too Madden-like and they should curtail the rules that promote offense, that isn't an excuse for how bad our team is. At this point we seem to be making it harder on ourselves by focusing of defense and ignoring offense. Defense still has its value, but there is never going to be another '85 Bears in the league as it is with its current rules.
And I'm sure the NFL lost some fans back then. They didn't miss them, and they likely won't miss me. On the other hand, if you think rule changes to bring in more fans can't backfire, take a look at NASCAR ratings.
Theres gotta be a happy medium though..if scoring becomes too saturated it just becomes basketball on turf & scoring becomes meaningless..and itll be the casual fantasy hounds that will be the first to abandon ship for something more exciting.scoring in football is great when it has meaning.High scoring games are great when there is contrast league wide. Balance is the key to great football..if they wanna favor offense so be it but at least have some checks & balances.
If you want some "checks" on offenses, require all teams to follow the Bowles & Bates Philosophy, which can best be summed up as" "Okay...if we HAVE to have an offense, I guess we can do that".
It's a new era of sports. This isn't just limited to the NFL. It's the NBA too. It's all about points and offense now. It's a spread game in football and hoops now. Gotta have stud play makers on O now because the rules benefit them and work against the defense more than ever. Meanwhile Jets brass wants to draft interior D lineman as pass rushers every year. Only in Jets land folks, only in Jets land.
Hold on guys..35 points from last nights game came from great defensive plays from both the Rams and Chiefs What if it was a 31 to 34 game?? No one will be complaining
Looked a lot like the old Arena League. Not sure if I like this new form of the NFL either. Up and down the field. No defense without a penalty. Sadly, I do think last night was a precursor to the new NFL. If that is true, then Woody and Chris have a lot of catching up to do.
I think a lot of this is generational. From a football fan prospective one of the greatest games I ever saw was the "Immaculate Reception" playoff game between the Steelers and the Raiders. Low scoring bare knuckles brawl decided on a completely unexpected sick play. As a Jets fan Namath along with Jurgensen were two of the first QB's to throw the ball a lot. Jet fans may remember the greatest Offensive game Joe arguably played. The Namath-Unitas shootout game also in 72. Namath had one of the sickest passing lines you will ever see. He completed 15 passes for 496 yards and 6 TD's. Yes 33.066 yards per completion. It wasn't a very compelling or great game as NFL games go. It was fun if you loved Namath and/or Unitas. I grew up with guys like Dick Lane, the fearsome foursome, Doomsday, Steel Curtain and yes "The NY Sack Exchange" Refs threw flags where it wasn't unsportsmanlike conduct, it was "Giving him the business". In a word football was about a level of toughness coupled with freak athletic talent. Lawrence Taylor could impact a game as much as Joe Montana could. Today's game isn't the same game at all. The toughness is being legislated out. Defensive players can't react to the overall speed of the game without using their hands and it's been essentially outlawed with the exception of offensive lineman. They are letting OL men extend their hands more than ever. Even with that holding calls are going up. The reason old school fans don't like this is it's not the same game. Baseball today is all about home runs and scoring but you can't tell me a game 7, 1 O game going into the bottom of the 9th is less exciting than a 12 9 game. I thought last nights game was great. Not because of the scoring but because of the great defensive plays throughout the game that appeared to be knockout blows and they weren't. Last nights game was like watching two fighters throwing haymakers and the other guy getting up and throwing them back. That can happen in a very low scoring defensive contest and did all the time. That's what has always made that game compelling for me. The drama of the game can come equally from stops or scores but it's the drama of the contest that makes you scream or turn away because the tension is so great you almost can't watch at the same time you can't get enough of it. As an old school guy who completely understands that defensive toughness is gone, I still loved last nights game. As far as building a winning team, neither the Rams or the Chiefs have won anything yet. My take is last nights game may help the Chiefs get to the SB more than it helps the Rams.
