degringolade

Outsider art (Art brut) / Bill Traylor/ Untitled (Two Dogs Fighting)

Monday morning and drinking my coffee. I watched the game yesterday and surprisingly the old man kicked the youngsters butt. Granted, the 21 other starters had more than a bit to do with it, but since it was billed as Yoda vs Grogu, that is the way that it will be remembered.

I am heretic here, but I am kinda thinking that there is just too damn much coaching going on in the NFL. The game has been taken away from the players over the past forty years and delivered into an impersonal combine that shreds personality and individuality.

Now, “what are you talking about?” I hear you saying. Well, on a technical basis, the game is better than it ever was. Man for man and pound for pound the players today would have reduced the old players to mulch. I will give them that.

But the game seems to have lost a lot of its spontaneity and joy in the process. Watching a well coached team is about as exciting as watching a surgeon remove and an appendix using a laparoscopic technique. You marvel at the skill set, but it kind of leaves you cold.

Now there are exceptions. Last year’s Chiefs and the Seahawks were fun because it truly appeared that the players were having fun. Russell and the Legion of Boom and beast were a blast. Mahomes last year was a joy.

Naw, the play is better, but the game is worse. It is kinda like wondering what corporate board will win out in a merger. Who knows where it will go. It probably isn’t “safe” to go back to the old days and it most certainly wouldn’t be profitable enough.

A final note and as a defense for Mahomes...Losing both starting tackles was why Mahomes lost. Woulda been a helluva game had they been able to play.