It seems like the NFL is getting progressively worse every year, for a myriad of reasons. I'm not talking about the publicity stunts during the anthem, because if you have NFL Redzone you never have to watch that contrived bull in the first place. I'm talking about the product on the field, and here are a few things that have really turned people away (imo)...feel free to add any:
1. Penalties. It's almost as if the refs have egos now, in that they assert their will on every game. There are far too many ticky-tack penalties in key situations, especially holding calls (O & D) and the horribly misused "illegal contact" penalty. It won't end up being a big story because Philly won, but last night's game was an example of a one-sided officiating disaster.
...and what's the point of KR/PR anymore? I don't know the statistics but it "feels" like there's a flag on 70-75% of all returns...completely sucks the excitement out of those plays.
2. Wide receivers/TE's/etc can't catch. I feel like there's been more drops than I could ever remember. You have ONE JOB, catch the ing ball.
3. Poor tackling...to be fair this isn't new, tackling technique has been declining for almost 30 years now. It still pisses me off when watching a little RB break a big play cause the dip defender goes for the big hit instead of wrapping up.
4. Piss-poor QB play. Outside of Rodgers, Brady, and Brees (2 of which could retire at any time), there are no sure things. Every other QB has bouts of wild inconsistency. There's hope with upstarts like Wentz, Watson, Carr, Mariota, Dak...but time will tell. More duds than studs at this position.