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NFL Produces Stinkiest Marquee Games Yet

Published 10/25/2016, 12:46 PM EDT

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The NFL’s determination to bring about parity in the league has done more harm than good; put simply, the NFL has had too many ugly games this season and that might explain why ratings are suffering. The NFL odds no longer draw as much excitement as they used to.

The Minnesota Vikings’ defeat on Sunday means that the NFL has no undefeated teams at the moment, this as opposed to the five undefeated teams that were in the NFL last year.

The Eagles game against the Vikings produced five turnovers in the first quarter, with Bradford being sacked six times by his former teammates, and this isn’t even including all the fumbles he made. The Vikings’ 93 yards rushing for the game is hardly worth talking about, and there were a few interceptions that Bradford’s crew pathetically failed to take advantage of.

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Of course, it would be easy to complain about the Eagles/Vikings game if not for the Cardinals/Seahawks game which was even more abysmal.

The Cardinals and the Seahawks have two of the best quarterbacks in the league, and not one of them threw a touchdown pass, not even in overtime. The kickers missed some ridiculous shots, and the 6-6 final scoreline definitely depressed a number of fans.

The NFL should be credited for trying to sell the Cardinals/Seahawks game by highlighting the finale as a historic tie, but few people cared. There is a definite lack of thrill this season, at least when compared to 2015 during which the Panthers reached the Super Bowl with only a single loss on their record.

Some people might try to defend a game like the one between the Vikings and the Eagles by pointing out that the Vikings were never the most talented team, and no one expected them to remain undefeated.

None the less, they are a decent team with favorable odds who looked very terrible against their rivals.

It is worth noting just how badly things are going for teams that were undefeated by this time in 2015. No one will blame the Broncos for failing to repeat their 2015 performance.

After all, they lost Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler. Tom Brady’s absence, on the other hand, could account for the Patriots’ fairly lacking performance, this along with Jimmy Garoppol not being as available and expected.

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The Green Bay Packers, however, do not have as many legitimate excuses. Aaron Rodgers simply wasn’t the player that everyone knows him to be; he was hardly the perennial MVP candidate from 2015.

Things in the NFL are such that fortunes rise and fall; so maybe, it is ridiculous to expect some of these teams to reproduce their previous victories. In fact, no one is really complaining that last year’s giants have fallen.

The problem is that no other teams have risen to replace them; every team that looks like it might rise up to the plate, be it Dallas or Atlanta, eventually falls. And the NFL’s determination to give every team an equal chance is to blame for the lackluster matches.

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The NFL isn’t an enticing product anymore, and fans are tired of watching matches that are won by teams only because they made the fewest moronic mistakes. The NFL better hope that this slump is temporary, otherwise they will lose fans.

 

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Written by:

Kelsey Hartsford

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