Postmortem: Seattle v Chicago v the NFL

[auroraave]

Houston, we have a problem. Also, Chicago, New York (x2!), Seattle, Jacksonville, Arizona, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Cleveland... you get the gist if it.

The games are fucking awful anymore and it's the elephant in the room for the NFL and for fans pushing away from it.

Last Sunday I had the extreme displeasure of flying up to Seattle for the holidays, and as sucky as that is in itself, I watched in sheer horror as the Jets played what can only be considered a bastardized version of a professional football game. At LITERALLY every single opportunity to make a play and change the outcome - they literally bumbled it away. It was astonishing to witness; Fumbles, missed kicks, muffed punts, dropped passes, whiffed tackles, it was like watching a team willfully losing a game, or putting together a hilarious 'outtakes' video of the season's worst - except this was in ONE game. I texted with my Jets fans friends - it was one of the worst displays - to the point I told them they should demand refunds - I was joking at first, but then realized, they actually should be asking for refunds. That was not a professional football game - which is what they paid for.

Over the last few seasons I have been lamenting the decline of the NFL game - which should not be confused with 'the seahawks having a bad game and losing' - that's not what this is. This is a long slow burn of the steady decline of the quality of ALL NFL games across the last decade - and it is palpable. I know you all know this because I have said it a lot - and it's not for theater - it's literally happening in real time.

Something needs to give here.

The NFL is not even pretending to be about football - but 'entertainment' which is not the same thing. Yes, football CAN be, but it has gone from a league of ferocious animals patrolling the gridiron, to entertainers masquerading as animals patrolling the gridiron, while being more concerned with social media status, followers and likes and 'THE BRAND". When Taylor Swift is getting the headlines at Gladiator events - you know there is a real problem. It's all for show now. Maybe it always was, but it doesn't feel like it.

The NFL has forgotten the league was founded on football - good football - the BEST football in the world. Now, those days are in the rearview. In a league of superior athletes, how can an NFL football game possible look this embarrassingly AWFUL? The best players = the worst games ever played?

How does that math add up?

Remember Kam Chancellor? Dude played a violent game violently, was a leader and an enforcer and his social media status, if he had any at all, wasn't in the picture. He was a footballer. Now look at Wilson - when he landed in Seattle he was about football 110%. It was everything. He was adored by the fans and earned it. And guess what happened?

Wilson forgot he was a football player. He decided he as a brand. Remember the season we lost to the Lambs at home in the playoffs? What happened? Wilson was off selling water, a podcast, fucking perfume, and anything else he could license and brand. Once he forgot about the game - he was run out of Seattle on a rail and publicly humiliated in Denver. Now he's back, seemingly aware he's a football player again. Wilson is Exhibit A of the cultural shift taking over.

No, it's not the end of racism, remember, the NFL was responsible for that when they decided it was necessary to celebrate a career criminal by entering politics and slapping "end racism' on the back of helmets. Who knew that was all it took? Obviously I am joking, but that was an other step in the wrong direction for a league when they bent the knee to sheer lunacy. That didn't grow the fanbase.

No, the cultural shift is players moving away from the team concept and right smack in the golden age of "ME!" Look at my followers! Look at my likes! If you don't play me RIGHT now I am transferring! If you don't pay me MORE I am transferring! If you don't play me when I want and pay me more, I'm still gonna transfer to a bigger school where I can play for a ring, so I can get more air time and enhance my brand!

The college game has been destroyed by greed and the transfer portal - players are fat and happy by their junior year - they are ridiculously arrogant and entitled BEFORE they ever land in the NFL - and it is showing. They could care less about anything other than themselves, and the product on the field shows it. Outside of about 5 teams, the league is bad bad bad.

The Seattle/Chicago game was simply another example of the decline - the reasons should be obvious by now. No paying fan should ever have to sit through that - and yet these absolute dumpster-fire games are becoming normalized. Time to just say no.

As to the game itself, as unwatchable as it was, from the bits I saw, I gleaned one single thing that stood out to be, that I think is the glaring problem on offense. It's not Grubb. He's not great, at least not yet, and his play calling should be critiqued and scrutinized as it is definitely suspect, but we have seen plenty of tricks in his bag - so we know there is something there.

I also an rejecting the oline as the culprit - I recognize the floor looks low, but there have been glimpses of a higher ceiling than previously thought. I believe they need a season together before we can really lay judgement. There is enough talent on this offense to be quite formidable.

My biggest takeaway from last night, and I have been seeing this for a few games now and I'm finally recognizing the pattern, is Seattle's pre-snap count. When Seattle lines up and goes quickly, they look much more formidable - the defense in on their heels giving the advantage to the attacking offense.

What I saw last night was Geno CONSTANTLY running the clock down while CONTANTLY shifting players around - and nearly every single fucking time it was into a running play. They do the same thing SO MUCH it is tipping the defense - who have clearly figured this out as they simply stuff the run. I watched Charbonnet get stuffed over and over after Geno shifts people all over the place - fooling no one. Maybe the shifts are on Grubb, I don't know.

Seattle needs to work on tempo and stop with the pre-snap theatrics - no one is buying it and the league CLEARLY has seen enough tape.

If Seattle wants to make the playoffs they need to beat the Rams, and if they want to beat the Rams they are going to have to score a lot, and they are NOT GOING to score by emptying the snap clock while shifting everyone all over the place and handing it to Charbonnet on a sllooooooooow developing end run. I've seen that exact scenario and play stuffed so many times now that it's it's utterly astonishing they have not figured this out.

Get the pre-snap shit together and they can beat the Lambs. Defenses simply know what is coming - especially when you give the same motions and shifts over and over and over and over - you are giving the defense time to read, react and communicate and snuff a run concept they've seen too many times. To me, that's a Geno problem. If they do the sir-shifts-alot-theatrics and a milk-the-play-clock-for-a-long-developing-sideways-run-play, they will get smoked. Stop giving the defense the advantage. The Lambs are gonna put up points - guaranteed - Seattle needs to as swell. This ain't gonna be a 6-3 shit show.

go hawks...

[douche]

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