Making my second attempt to watch a super bowl.
Pros:
I can actually understand how downs and yards work.
Eagles running play.
Cons:
Oh mmmyyy gooosh the whole process is still so boring. Why do they have this much time to sit and talk on the sidelines?
Edit: like, the the ad break between 3rd and 4th felt shorter than some stoppages in play
For a long time I've maintained that the NFL is a terrible sport/game. However, inexplicably I have been watching it for years.
- Rules difficult to understand. At a glance I couldn't tell you what an illegal formation is, or what eligible receivers are, etc. Also confusing what is interference, what is not. Sometimes confusing what constitutes a completed pass, what constitutes a touchdown, or a 'runner'. Heck sometimes the players and refs don't even know the rules. What they do know is subject to heavy interpretation. Then you have historically terrible overtime rules that involve a coin toss for possession.
- No flow to the game/too many stoppages. We have a game here that is technically 60 minutes. But it actually lasts 3 hours because of all the stoppages. In in that 3 hours, you only get about 12 minutes of time where the ball is actually in motion on the field. There have been many games that I watched where literally no 'play' happened for 10 - 20 minutes. Time-out, commercial break, injury, timeout, commercial break. That is silly. On Sunday you kinda need to flip back and forth between 2-3 games because sometimes just nothing is happening.
- Plays being negated/called back frequently. When the action finally does resume, you often get plays called back due to penalties. The ball moves backwards, the play didn't happen, and time ticks off. What other sport does that? Hockey might have the occasional overturned goal. But plays being negated, big chunks of time that 'never happened', happens several times every single football game.
- Frequency of injury. Crazy, more than any other sport. Again, this disrupts the flow of play and is just bad for the players.
- Overhead and technology required to create the game/game experience. The QB and a defensive player have headsets in the helmets so the coach can relay plays to them. The 1st down line is projected into the broadcast so fans can understand where the ball needs to advance to. A competent broadcast team required to make each play comprehensible. Replay cameras, video reviews etc. Of course in the old days they didn't have any of this, but today it's pretty much needed to make the game digestible by the average fan. I'd argue no other field (or ice) sport requires this much clutter.
The NFL is a terrible game. And it's also a fantastic product. It's expertly presented and marketed. And you do see flashes of athletic brilliance, because these players are really freaks. But if it wasn't for fantasy football, and Sunday drinking, and a super-slick presentation I'm not sure where it would be. Great past-time. As an actual game it kinda sucks IMHO.