The NFL Writers Really Messed Up That Ending
My favorite people are the people who argue the NFL is fake, or rigged, or pre-determined in some way like wrestling or something. They are the best people. By best people I mean the stupidest. Like most conspiracy theories they instantly fall apart with any sort of logic. The NFL is not determined by writers or string pullers determining outcomes. It would have been exposed by now, by a disgruntled ex-player looking for attention or by simple investigative journalism. All of these years, all of these people, and no one cracked? Sure.
I understand why it happens. Fans who watch a heartbreaking loss when they were so close can’t bear to admit shit got fucked and so they have to put the blame elseware. That’s why all the best conspiracies come from playoff losers. DID YOU KNOW THE SAINTS/RAMS GAME HAD 4 REFS FROM LA ON THE STAFF? PROOF!
For argument’s sake lets have some fun and give these sore losers the benefit of the doubt and say the NFL is rigged. Well, if the NFL is rigged, the people doing the rigging are complete goddamn idiots.
Why would you give the Patriots so much success? It’s become pretty clear that by now the average fan is sick of seeing them. The last interesting storyline the Patriots had was deflategate revenge. They came, they got the greatest comeback in SB history, and that arc was concluded. Why then write them into the next two super bowls? Especially one where they win again, against a team the NFL should be very interested in pushing as the “Future”? That’s bad writing. If the NFL was written or rigged, the Patriots dynasty would have ended by now. Probably via a crazy event instead of the slow decline into mediocrity that is far more likely to happen. The Pats have served as a good villain for a while, but you can’t keep the same guy in the field that long. They need to be shaken up to keep things interesting.
Why would the NFL, on top of all that, write such a boring ending to the season? The average fan doesn’t care for defensive struggles and the Rams/Chiefs spectacle earlier this season was beloved. The only people who could possibly enjoy that Super Bowl are “I’m better than you” dorks who want to prove how they are true fans by claiming they love defensive slogs more than shootouts. That game was the complete opposite of a shootout in the worst way, because it featured the same problem: one side of the game was completely irrelevant. Shootouts have no defense. That game had no offense. At least shootouts have points, and field movement to make up for the lack of defense. A game where neither team can get more than 1 first down per drive isn’t a defensive battle, it’s a complete stifling of anything interesting and after a certain point the tension of who breaks first becomes tedium. The best defensive battles still feature some offense in them, because something has to counterbalance the defense. The absolute best games feature a balance. A lot of the best games I’ve seen have teams scoring in the 14-30 range.
So why write a game where the teams don’t even get into the redzone until late in the 4th? That’s a great way to get everyone bored, and no entertainment medium should solely cater to the deep niche weirdo fanboys who might get something out of it. Not if they want to make money. The NFL likes money. This game did not do well for them.
But maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe these writers are playing the long game and are just bad. After all, the WWE seems pretty adept at consistently messing up their own storylines. Maybe the Browns and the Bills and the Jets and the *insert snakebit team here* are essentially just jobbers. Maybe the Patriots are John Cena. Maybe we live in hell.
What storylines do you hope to see play out next year?
(Edit) I want to be clear if you enjoyed that Super Bowl good on you, at least you got something out of it. But I’m sick of being told that I’m not a “real fan” because I don’t enjoy ugly defensive slugfests presented as the pinnacle of the sport. Liking points doesn’t make people not football fans.
(EDIT 2) THE ALLIANCE OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL KICKS OFF THIS WEEKEND, EVERYBODY WATCH IT
Next year’s storyline: The Denver Mafia wins the superbowl 3-0 and the NFL is officially canceled forever because no matter how much they TRY to rig the game the teams keep screwing it up.
Gritty makes a guest appearance week 3
Gritty becomes a new owner, moves a second team to Philly. An eternal blood feud begins.
The browns with no trades for awesome players, no best picks in the draft. By some seemingly cruel knife twisting act of malicious fate play the pats first and run rampant over them in what is only the beginning of a rip roaring rampage of revenge of total victories over every other team the only ends when they stand victorious in the arena of the super bowl. Their trophy held aloft sending it’s glimmering rays of victory over the mountain of crushed opponents, shellshocked fans and stunned commentators. Only to return next year to their old selves as if nothing happened and to leave everyone wondering was it truly the browns or was it demons, aliens or perhaps the old gods of sports who saw fit to punish us for reasons we shall never truly comprehend… Or at the very least how about a couple of teams we haven’t seen in a Superbowl for a while. Just to mix things up a little.
so the Browns rehash the Cavaliers story? awesome
I found Exy Rexy. Maybe Exy is the alter ego of Sexy Rexy
AAF Champion Arizona Hotshots topple Brady in the “Ultimate Super Final” and the AAF forces the NFL to fold
Patrick Mahomes inadvertently decapitates Brady with an errant throw and become the greatest hero in NFL history, till Bellichek trades what’s left of Gronk to the Broncos and goes on to win 6 more Super Bowls with Case Keenum.
The Broncos also change their name to the Gronkos as part of the trade deal.
The only time I do believe a game was fixed was the infamous Cam Newton fumble in Super Bowl 50. Everyone knew that Peyton Manning was washed up with his play regressing for years. Manning would’ve likely had ignominious end of his career as an unsigned free agent like Michael Vick if he didn’t retire after SB50.
There was no reason for all those Panthers players, especially Newton to jump away from the fumbled ball like it was a poisonous snake.
You really think Peyton Manning being remembered as getting carried to one of his two Super Bowls is the kind of legacy the NFL wants to give their favorite media darling?
The only time I do believe a game was fixed was the infamous Cam Newton fumble in Super Bowl 50. Everyone knew that Peyton Manning was washed up with his play regressing for years. Manning would’ve likely had ignominious end of his career as an unsigned free agent like Michael Vick if he didn’t retire after SB50.
There was no reason for all those Panthers players, especially Newton to jump away from the fumbled ball like it was a poisonous snake. They had to give their golden boy Manning his story book ending
Come on man, the amount of money those Panthers players would have to take to “throw the game” that way would be ridiculous. The payout for winning a Super Bowl is what, $250K? Not to mention the extra money players on SB-winning teams get in free agency.
Any of those players or the coaches could have called out the Panthers offense as throwing the game if they’d studied the film and seen anything close to legitimizing your argument. Yet none of the experts share your opinion.
It’s just another case of “either there’s a massive conspiracy that EVERYONE is in on, or the random internet commenters with ZERO credentials are actually just full of shit”. I tend to go with the latter scenario.
Nah. I don’t know why people keep saying Cam jumped away from the ball or whatever but if you actually watch the play it’s extremely obvious he’s trying to 1: process what just happened and then 2: predict where the ball is going to bounce since fumbles are unpredictable. He’s not jumping on it because he’s skittish from a game of solid beating, but he’s not avoiding it. He’s trying to predict it and he guesses wrong and takes too long to go for it. Everyone is too swayed by years of slow mo replays, the real time version isn’t honestly that bad.
That’s also exactly how Drew Brees broke his arm. And the reason the Oklahoma drill is banned from High School football. And let’s not forget that first XFL game. Not sure why that was the narrative after the game either. Cam consistently makes contact on runs, it’s ok for him to protect his throwing arm. And we didn’t kill Payton Manning for putting no effort on that interception return in the Superbowl and he has less of an excuse.
I like defensive games a lot. That wasn’t a defensive game; the offenses just sucked.
Goff had wide-open Cooks for how long before he noodled it to no effect? Todd Gurley clearly banged up?
This
I would say the Patriots offense actually looked respectable, considering how they usually do against a Wade Phillips defense. They had a couple bad plays (INT, missed FG), but the rest of the time they looked like a good O struggling with a good D.
The Rams offense looked literally out of its league against a Patriots defense that may have turned up for the playoffs, but had been at best erratic all season.
Zach Mettenberger and Christian Hackenberg are both on the same AAF team and it will be the most glorious QB battle in history
Could someone transcribe that article in the first panel? I tried reading it, but my poor eyes can’t handle it.
“No one wanted to watch that ass matchup and no one who did actually enjoyed it except weirdos who want to convince people that they are “the true” football fans because they enjoy ugly tedious defensive slogs that are only interesting to study film of not watch in real time you know it’s actually okay to admit when a crappy game is a crappy game you don’t get a bigger football peen(?) if you say you think a single fucking field goal is genuinely exciting to watch stop gatekeeping”
Next year’s storyline for the Superbowl: a resurgent Buffalo team meets a Vikings team that (in a twist!) won the NFC when the Falcons missed a go-ahead field goal. Winner hoists their first Lombardi, loser goes 0-5.
Not gonna happen in a million years, but I can dream, right?
This game would be called a draw after 12 overtime quarters without anyone scoring
At least both teams will have players with a ring right?
I’m thoroughly bothered by the fact that the Alliance of American Football is using a ball with stripes all the way around it. That’s a Canadian football!
I’m sure I am the only one bothered by this. Carry on.
How were you with the XFL’s black ball or Arena’s tan crosshair one?
Those leagues did their own thing, which was fine even if it could look a bit silly. The AAF is straight up taking the CFL’s striping.
Honestly, I’m half-kidding about being bothered by this. I know it is not a big deal in any way but I do genuinely have a pet peeve about seeing footballs depicted in American media as having stripes all the way around like the CFL ball (yes, there was a time when American footballs occasionally did have such striping, that time ended during the Nixon administration). Check it out, there are CFL footballs everywhere, from low-rent grocery circulars advertising snacks for “big game” parties to Dr. Pepper’s official tie-in with the College Football playoff. I find it to be a bothersome bit of artistic license because it tells me that the artist was too lazy to photo or visual-reference something as simple as a football.
To see the AAF use such a ball is like seeing this bothersome assumption about football stripes manifest itself into real life. Sorry, I’m a strange cookie…
If the NFL was rigged, the Cowboys would have at least made an NFCCG in the past 23 years. Hell, they would have made a couple of Super Bowls and won at least one.
Here’s the problem: it wasn’t even a good defensive game. There weren’t any spectacular defensive efforts as much as the offenses were asleep until the Pats in the 4th. It was a sloppy mess.
The Patriots are LOL CENA WINS
If you think professional wrestling writers avoid stagnation and make sure there are always interesting finishes, you don’t follow wrestling. Trust me, having a writing staff doesn’t mean things stay fresh.
I think the point is more that if the NFL was actually fixed the score for this game would have looked more like 42-35.
There was nothing wrong with not enjoying that superbowl.
As a Pat’s fan, that game gave me sports blue balls.
Trying to read the whiteboard scribbles.
– Kill Mahomes?
– Vikings wildcard heartbreak
– Matt Patricia is (unreadable)
– Sexy Rexy
– Brown to 49ers
– Le’Veon to Texans
– Rodgers hurt week 4
– Raiders play in St. Louis
– Terrell Owens comeback
– Gronk the Bengal
Anyone got any idea what the Patricia one says?
Putting it euphemistically, a friend of David Duke.
“Matt Patricia is a KKK member”
Since you brought all this up and Dave listed it above, what happens if at least 4 of those things happens……..
I couldnt imagine how difficult it would be to script the NFL. What I do know is that if the Refs were told in a roundabout way what direction the NFL would like things to swing, they could totally miss calls and call calls that would sway a game toward those decisions. If the team that was being targeted to lose loses, it helps Vegas and the narrative. If they win, it becomes an underdog story. Either way, the NFL wins.
Now, do I think that is happening. No. Not really. Could it be done that way? Yes.
Dwayne Haskins replaces Eli before the halfway point and leads the Giants to a Wild Card spot. Hopefully they at least draft him. He will be better than Darnold/Allen/Rosen when it’s all said and done.
One of the better case scenario was to have potential successor sit for a year and have Eli mentor him. Whatever happens if there’s a QB available in the draft falls into the Giants’ lap, go for it.
jesus mary and joseph why are we still going on about whether the superb owl was a defensive masterpiece or an offensive disgrace god fucking damn fuckwits
it was a thrown game ya fuckin shitstains i have proof
Please put the tinfoil back in the cabinet.
hey bro do peytons “noodely” arms make gargantuan whooshing sounds
I enjoyed the Super Bowl only because it was ugly. It was a change the Rams defense played well but watching Goff look like a rookie that should have been benched for Sean Mannion (Go Beavers) was sarcastic. Even the kicking was ugly they had one job and it was not like the kicks were over 50 yards . A 40 yard kick should be done with one leg tied behind their back.
In any event anybody excited to watch The Alliance of American Football kick off Saturday?
This wasn’t even a defensive struggle.
If a QB throws the ball into the turf for three straight downs, is that good defense or garbage offense? I think you guys know the answer.
That’s good special teams play for sure.
It’s “special” alright.
Seriously that word got corrupted for me…
Conspiracy theories fall apart because they rely on too many incompetent people to coordinate a bunch of complicated plans.
AAF: When the NFL isn’t neutered enough.
The San Antonio/San Diego game was way more fun to watch than the Super Bowl.
I wonder if AAF will be like XFL where the MVP will latch into a NFL team as a backup only to take the starting job when the starter gets hurt, have a decent year, wins the comeback of the year award, then sucked and hurt where he gets replaced by a first round pick and retires after winning a SB ring.
I have a weird feeling it will be Trent Richardson who wins their first MVP, then he will eat himself out of his second chance. Though Matt Asiata is my number two pick.
I think the MVP is going to be Trent Richardson who is extra hungry for vindication. Only problem is he will eat himself out of his second chance because he is so extra hungry.
Jokes aside, I can see Matt Asiata having a killer 10 game season and get picked up. The only problem with that is their season will end and he might not get a good amount of recuperation time before an NFL season.
The 2019 Season:
Taking note of the success of Super Bowl MVP Edelman, Belichik mandates *all* Patriots start a vigorous PED regimen without even trying to hide it. The entire Patriots team is suspended for the first four games of the season, forfeiting them.
Entering the season well-rested and “angry” in Week 5 (and just starting division play), they quickly bounce from 0-4 to 11-5 on their way to a second consecutive SB victory. Which no one watches outside of Boston.
I don’t think the games are rigged. But I honestly believe that there is big money that attempts to sway games one way or another. This is primarily for betting purposes, and more specifically about the spreads. It’s in every sport, whether we want to believe it or not.
The Saints-Rams game wasn’t fixed. But it should did appear that there was something going on there. Hell, there may have been money in place in the Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl. The league does little to nothing to put these fires out. They give a non answer and move on as if to say there’s nothing to see here. So fixed games, no. Sketchy moments where someone may have gotten paid over a missed call or maybe even a missed tackle like in last year’s Vikings-Saints game (seriously, who tackles like that), it’s entirely possible.
Story line wise, I’m really looking forward to seeing if the Browns can build on this year. I’m certain we’ll get a conversation at some point about coaches from the Belichik tree and how they may not be good head coaches. I’m sure we’ll hear about L.A., L.A., L.A., L.A., L.A., L.A., and then probably more L.A. And you can’t talk about L.A. without talking about Sean McVay. So next season will be his revenge arc. Gruden will likely trade away Carr and anyone else who is a bigger star than him (according to his own perception). And we can end things off the usual way. The Patriots in the Super Bowl against a team no one really saw coming. Dave said the Bucs so I’ll go with the 49ers or the Giants. If it’s the Giants, Eli will beat Brady for the 3rd time and walk out a winner. No he won’t be their starter. He will come in as a backup and New York will love him again. He will hold up the Lombardi trophy with a bomb pop in his other hand. THE END.
Predictions for the next 3 Super Bowls:
LIV: Chiefs 38, Bears 31 MVP: Patrick Mahomes. One of the best of all time ends with Trubisky getting picked off at midfield to seal it by Eric Berry.
LV: Saints 45, Browns 28 MVP: Drew Brees. Brees goes out on top with 2 rings after defeating the Cinderella Browns.
LVI: 49ers 28, Broncos 21 MVP: Jimmy Garoppolo. San Fran gets #6 after Phillip Lindsay fumbles with 1 minute left at the 5-yard line to seal an awesome 49ers win.
Watch me be wrong 3 years from now. This is for historical purpose.
Bro Trubisky in the Super Bowl is crazy
Now Brady is on the Bucs. Lol.