Call Off the Zebras

Average in the regular season last year was 12.6 accepted p/g,

Through the first 31 of 32 games of the pre-season, 19.1 accepted p/g.

I haven't ventured to other teams message boards, but I would have to assume they ALL hate the number of flags being thrown.

So why the hell is the NFL doing this? NO real fan wants this. Rules were already tilted in the offenses favor when they eliminated high hits to WRs. Those WRs now have much more freedom in the middle of the field. They don't need another advantage of in terms of catching balls. If you want to avoid high collision hits (concussions) then maybe you want the DBs to slow the WRs a little. So much is wrong with this new rule change.

juny said:

I haven't ventured to other teams message boards, but I would have to assume they ALL hate the number of flags being thrown.

So why the hell is the NFL doing this? NO real fan wants this. Rules were already tilted in the offenses favor when they eliminated high hits to WRs. Those WRs now have much more freedom in the middle of the field. They don't need another advantage of in terms of catching balls. If you want to avoid high collision hits (concussions) then maybe you want the DBs to slow the WRs a little. So much is wrong with this new rule change.

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Because $

They're catering the game to the fantasy football crowd. Gotta have enough big plays and scoring to light up the redzone channel like a slot machine!

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/18/nfl-says-strict-illegal-contact-calls-will-continue/

Honestly, I don't think the NFL owners give a damn what the fans think. We are apparently powerless to prevent this insanity.

God, I hope Belichick doesn't acquiesce to this point of emphasis like he did before. The Seahawks didn't and they have a Super Bowl victory to show for it. As I keep saying, dare the referees to drag the game out to the 5 hour mark. Actually, I hope every team does that.

After the NFL powers to be watched several Red Sox/Yankees games. Goodell and his boys thought how bad could it be if we add some boredom and longevity to the NFL??

At least it will not be as bad as Major League Baseball...

Zeus said:

Of course, you are 100% correct.

I've had Red Sox tickets since the mid-80s and they could not be bothered to do anything for their season ticket holders. That is, until after the 2012 debacle.

Since then, I have a season ticket account rep who handles questions, secures extra tickets when needed, etc. in a very professional and responsive manner.

Things never change until they have to. For the Patriots, the gravy train will run out when both Belichick and Brady have moved on. Once that happens, the supply vs. demand dynamic will shift hard and fast toward the consumer. At that point, it will be a huge challenge for Football Family Kraft to keep the ticket money flowing.

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That's probably right.

The BB/TB bandwagon includes a range of people from occasional fans to folks like yourself who shell out serious cash and expect some responsiveness in return.

As someone who followed the team through its darkest days, I will be very interested to see what happens, including on this board, if the Patriots follow in the footsteps of the Cowboys, Steelers and Packers-after-Starr and spend several years or longer wandering in the wilderness when the "Franchise" is no longer on the sidelines every day...hopefully, they'll make a Montana to Young transition and not have us wait for a Staubach to Aikman or Bradshaw to Big Ben or Starr to Favre eon or two.

Goodell...the ******* prick

I hope I last the year...because this preseason is unbearable. I hope they get called out every single week the *****

PatsFanSince74 said:

That's probably right.
The BB/TB bandwagon includes a range of people from occasional fans to folks like yourself who shell out serious cash and expect some responsiveness in return.
As someone who followed the team through its darkest days, I will be very interested to see what happens, including on this board, if the Patriots follow in the footsteps of the Cowboys, Steelers and Packers-after-Starr and spend several years or longer wandering in the wilderness when the "Franchise" is no longer on the sidelines every day...hopefully, they'll make a Montana to Young transition and not have us wait for a Staubach to Aikman or Bradshaw to Big Ben or Starr to Favre eon or two.

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Those that you consider to be hardcore homers will be the first ones to bail out from the forum when the Pats hit the skids.

DarrylS said:

After the NFL powers to be watched several Red Sox/Yankees games. Goodell and his boys thought how bad could it be if we add some boredom and longevity to the NFL??

At least it will not be as bad as Major League Baseball...

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Sell more commercials.

KontradictioN said:

Those that you consider to be hardcore homers will be the first ones to bail out from the forum when the Pats hit the skids.

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Because by that time we will have died of old age?

KontradictioN said:

Those that you consider to be hardcore homers will be the first ones to bail out from the forum when the Pats hit the skids.

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Hopefully we'll never have to find out if you are right...but, I agree. Some of our "hard core homers" doth, in my opinion, "protest too much." Their homerism is all too often poorly informed and suggests that they are "in it" just to be associated with a winner.

KontradictioN said:

Those that you consider to be hardcore homers will be the first ones to bail out from the forum when the Pats hit the skids.

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If it comes to that in a few years, it will definitely be interesting to see who sticks around. Then again, when the Cowboys and Steelers hit rock bottom, their fanbases stayed more or less in tact. It seems that the Pats have been good enough, long enough, that the attrition might not be so bad.

Or, it could turn out like the 49ers...the fans all disappear and then come out of the woodwork again when the team contends.

If Jonathan proves as good an owner as his father, the Pats shouldn't just fall off a cliff. Sure, there will be a decline when Brady and BB leave, but I bet the team would return to contention before too long. Good ownership is fundamental for long term success in the NFL.

That's a big IF. Not confident in the boy.

PatsWickedPissah said:

That's a big IF. Not confident in the boy.

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That's my real fear. If ownership gets bad, it shows on the field. I hope Jonathan bucks the trend of people born with silver spoons being complete douchebags.

RE the flags, I heard someone on the radio today (I think Blandino) and he said two interesting things: 1) that incidental contact, handfighting, etc while running downfield should NOT be called and 2) that if the rec is initiating contact and the defender uses his hands to fend him off, that should not be called either.

If they actually call it that way, I'll feel somewhat better about the whole thing.

This would be so much easier to take if the NFL simply followed Jack Lambert's advice "Put a dress on them." He was referring to QB's but dressing all the WR's in nice long flower print dresses would make the illegal touching calls much more palatable. No means no.

rochrist said:

RE the flags, I heard someone on the radio today (I think Blandino) and he said two interesting things: 1) that incidental contact, handfighting, etc while running downfield should NOT be called and 2) that if the rec is initiating contact and the defender uses his hands to fend him off, that should not be called either.

If they actually call it that way, I'll feel somewhat better about the whole thing.

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I also heard Blandino say that the way they're calling them now will continue all season. Three other countries heard from today: F###face Felger thinks it will be all year as Blandino stated. Curran thinks it will be called all year very similarly to now. Pat Kirwan on Sirius an hour ago said he thinks that it will be much less than now in the regular season, with perhaps 35% increase in the defensive holding calls over last year. That all still sucks to me. The late games used to start at 4:00, then 4:05, then 4:15 last year 4:25. Look for 5:00 pm next year or as soon as October if this crap continues. Imagine driving home to Maine from a Monday night game in Foxboro with the traffic. You'd be lucky to get to work on time if you didn't even sleep. The NFL should think twice about lording itself over MLB, the NBA and NHL if they allow this **** to continue. Fans first, as always.

We can all see it. THe NFL wants 42-32 score games. Not 17-14. For those fans on the fence...us who want good D? F us