Three Things I Miss About the NFL

The 2006-07 NFL playoffs are in full swing. Hopes for a Super Bowl have been extinguished for all but four teams. Consequently, I have decided to make some observations about certain developments that have recently taken place in the NFL. The following are three things I miss about the NFL, and the desertion of which are detrimental to the game of football.

1. The Deep Ball.

Remember when teams used to air it out, firing the ball forty yards down the field against one-on-one coverage looking for a big play? Years after the implementation of the west coast offense by Bill Walsh and the 49ers, teams all but refuse to throw a pass of more than ten yards. While the short passing game has been used very effectively by certain teams, among them the New England Patriots and New York Jets, the tedious style of offense takes away from the excitement of the game. Carson Palmer continues to use his talented receivers as deep threats, as does Peyton Manning, but the deep ball is quickly becoming a lost art.

2. The Pre-Instant Replay Era

Prior to 1999, officials called NFL games without the aid of instant replay, and they got the calls right a remarkably high percentage of the time. Since its implementation, the instant replay system has slowed the pace of play, an obvious side effect. Another more problematic result has been diminished performance by league officials. The knowledge that a botched call can be reviewed and changed seems to have led to more careless officiating than was seen in the past. Furthermore, instant replay is not a complete solution because of its inability to overturn plays in which the play was mistakenly blown dead.

3. Fumbles