I think this is a legitimate question. Is football getting worse over the years? Perhaps it's just that the Broncos and Colts are terrible teams, but it seems that football in general is becoming worse than before. I started watching in about 1999 or 2000. During the time that I've watched football since then, I have to say, it feels like it has in terms of quality. I think 2003-2009 were very good football years and even up until maybe 2018. However, since then, especially this year, football feels like it's getting a bit worse. It feels overly officiated with poor officiating, the quality of the players doesn't seem as good (especially in the trenches), and the coaches seem to be getting worse overall. I get that you can't have Belichick or Andy Reid on every team. However, my goodness! It feels like a lot of coaches have gotten dumber since the advent of "analytics" in football.
I think coaches seem to be hung up a bit on analytics compared to calling plays that the team is good at running. Look at last night. There were a few calls in the Broncos game, such as the 4th down play in OT, where the coaches are clearly overthinking things. If you're going to go for it, why go shotgun on 4th and 1? That completely eliminates the concern of the run play, which the Broncos were doing very well on that drive. That way, they could play action if they wanted to throw it. Or, just kick the field goal given that the Colts offense wasn't doing anything. Either would've been better than what the Broncos called. Watching the games so far this season, I can't help but see this with other teams, and I have to ask, to those of you that have been watching longer than I have, is the quality of football getting worse over the yearS?
