Are There A Lot Of Bad NFL Teams?

[GP1]

How about a little break from the norm to discuss a topic semi-related to the Zips as we have a college team?After week one, I can only say that the NFL is becoming a league of three types of teams. The A Teams are most probable to win the Super Bowl...New England, Colts, maybe San Diego are examples. The B Teams a most probable to make the playoffs...Bengals, Eagles, Steelers, Denver, Cowboys, etc. A & B teams constitute about 12 of the 32 teams. There are actually some NFC teams that make the playoffs that are horrible and would never make it in the AFC. The C Teams absolutely stink and you can throw whichever 20 teams you wish into this category. I don't think this is the parity the NFL was hoping to achieve. Why is this? I can think of two reasons and feel free to add your own.First, successful college offenses are now much different than what you see on Sunday. The teams are much more spread out than before and the players are not being prepared for the NFL in college any longer.Secondly, does anyone fear for the future of NFL quarterbacking other than me based upon what we see on Saturday afternoons? The QB is the single most important player on the field for every NFL team.....hands down. With the exception of west coast teams, college QBs now run instead of pass and NFL scouts are just stupid enough to pick up on these guys. Case in point, Michael Vick.I really don't think college football is to blame. I just wrote that to spark interest. Colleges do what they have to do to win games.

[blueandgold]

I agree with just about everything you have said. I have one question. In the 70's and 80's there were many more teams running Wishbone and Flexbone offenses compared to now. Those systems definitely were run and run often type offenses with most of the QB's doing a lot of the running. How can there be less passing QB's to pick from now? I think that many of the QB's are just in offensive systems (made for passing) that just don't work in the NFL, therefore they are less prepared for success at the next level.

[GP1]

In the 1970s, successful teams were very run focused. The birth of the run and shoot offense and the west coast offense happened in the 1980s and quickly found a place in college with a lot of southern teams. The better NFL QBs come from passing offenses from their college days. Brady - Michigan, Manning - Tennessee, Hasselbeck - Boston College, Quinn will show himself to be well prepared for the NFL in the next few weeks, etc. It seems as if college is getting away from NFL type offenses to run the type of plays WVU and Florida run.I absolutely love the NFL, and I think the league is becoming less entertaining because the players are not prepared to play in the league. I worry about the quality of the league in the next few years. One of the worst things the NFL has done is close down NFL Europe. They really need a minor league system to develop players.

[ZippyBoy]

One of the worst things the NFL has done is close down NFL Europe.  They really need a minor league system to develop players.

Agreed...all that's left is the CFL and the crappy Arena Football League (which has "minor league" systems AF2 and National Indoor Football League).

[g-mann17]

I think you all are just "Glory Days"-ing this whole thing. NFL players have always developed within the league. College has always been the precursor systems that the NFL used. If the players aren't fitting the Drop Back and Throw system then you change the style of play. The only thing really holding the NFL back right now is that the QB is so highly regarded. You can't hit him, he can't get hurt or what will happen to the team. This keeps the offenses blase. No option (which is 30% or more of all football) So now you have only 2/3rds the possibilities on offense.The main thing is that coaching in the league has to get better. For every Sean Payton, there are 3 Romeo Crennels out there that can call a defense but can't make his players better. If the coaching pool improves so will the quality of play.

[Zipgrad01]

Well, it is like any other sport. They keep adding teams and it keeps watering down the talent. 20 years ago there weren't as many teams as there are now, so many of the borderline players that are in the NFL now wouldn't have made the roster with 5 or 6 less teams.Also, football now days evolves much quicker than it used to. In the 70's and 80's most teams ran the same offenses and defenses and they did so for years and years. Coaches were in place for decades with one team and so were the players. Now organizations go through coaches and players (due to free agency) like we go through underwear. New schemes have popped up like crazy in the last 15 years with the west coast offenses, etc.. Defenses have also come a long way. There are so many hybrid defenses and new schemes that is really makes the qb's job tough. The qb's are changing offenses and coaches every 2 or 3 years. On top of that, he has to prepared for new disguised blitz packages and Tampa 2 defenses that he has never seen before.

[g-mann17]

Well, it is like any other sport. They keep adding teams and it keeps watering down the talent. 20 years ago there weren't as many teams as there are now, so many of the borderline players that are in the NFL now wouldn't have made the roster with 5 or 6 less teams.Also, football now days evolves much quicker than it used to. In the 70's and 80's most teams ran the same offenses and defenses and they did so for years and years. Coaches were in place for decades with one team and so were the players. Now organizations go through coaches and players (due to free agency) like we go through underwear. New schemes have popped up like crazy in the last 15 years with the west coast offenses, etc.. Defenses have also come a long way. There are so many hybrid defenses and new schemes that is really makes the qb's job tough. The qb's are changing offenses and coaches every 2 or 3 years. On top of that, he has to prepared for new disguised blitz packages and Tampa 2 defenses that he has never seen before.

I agree with everything you said.Though (and it's not a disagreement with you) I have to disagree with the "watering down of talent" theory everyone always tries to pull. That would be fine if say, the US population hadn't increased since the the last time the NFL expanded. But the population continues to grow. Where the talent thins (in my opinion) is in coaching. Too many people who would be a qualified coach take a job with ESPN or FOX or some small school somewhere or outside of football entirely, and that leaves people who are less skilled to try and coach the young players. The coaching pool is very watered down. The player talent is there, there is no one to help refine it.

[GP1]

Though (and it's not a disagreement with you) I have to disagree with the "watering down of talent" theory everyone always tries to pull. That would be fine if say, the US population hadn't increased since the the last time the NFL expanded. But the population continues to grow.

Excellent point. I've never looked at it that way. Normally the watering down point is made about baseball.People wonder why southern and western colleges are doing so well in football now. That's where the population has moved. The greater the number of people, the greater the chance of getting good players.

[Class of 82]

Interesting. It seems to me, though, that maybe all we're seeing is another transition like we've seen in the NFL at least half a dozen times. Heck I remember a time when seeing an NFL team throw on first down was called a "surprise" play and the play-action pass was considered the ultimate in sophistication.I don't know. I think right now the league is adjusting to the freaks of nature coming out of college football. My God. You've got 300-pound O-linemen running 5.0 40 times. You have 260-pound linebackers who are faster than most of the wide receivers from just 10 or 15 years ago. You also have some very smart coaches who have found ways to use these freaks to confound other very smart coaches.Maybe the NFL is just ready for "the next big thing," aka Paul Brown (messenger guards, power sweeps, play-action pass) in the 1950s and Bill Walsh (so-called "West Coast" offense) in the 1980s. Here's betting that will come.