Bad product and mediocrity hurt NFL

Carson Wentz #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles (Photo by Rob Carr / Getty Images)

Good thing New York, New Jersey and Connecticut viewers had a chance to watch the matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers followed by Sunday Night Football between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.

After sitting through three hours of bad football between the Los Angeles Rams and New York Jets on Sunday, they deserved to watch these two great matchups that came following the 1 o’clock game at MetLife Stadium.

What we saw between the Rams and Jets is a reflection of how terrible the NFL is. The NFL ratings have taken a hit this year because of a horrible product and so many mediocre teams.

Yes, most of Week 9 and 10 NFL games have been good, but overall, the games have been awful to watch from the first two months. There’s no denying that.

It’s too bad there was a winner between the Rams and Jets. The Rams took a 9-6 victory, and they were as bad as the Jets. Both teams had hard time throwing the football. They could not run the football. The offensive lines were dreadful. The punters on both teams earned their money in that game.

That’s been a problem with the league as a whole.

There are not many great quarterbacks in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers has struggled this year. Only four quarterbacks are great in Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott.

It’s hard to get a great quarterback in this league, but no one is going to bother watching mediocre to awful quarterbacking play.

Outside of Odell Beckham Jr., which receiver in the NFL captures someone’s fancy?

The running game appears to be dead. Outside of Ezekiel Elliot, there are not many dynamic running backs.

NFL teams have done a poor job of building their team around offensive lines. Too often, we see a quarterback running for his life.

Add all this up, and you see bad games around the league this season. That also means bad to mediocre teams.

The NFL could have a winless team this season in the Browns. There’s no talent across the board on that team. Sure, they play hard, but so did the 0-16 Lions in the 2008 season. It’s about results, and that’s it.

The AFC North features two losing teams in the Steelers and Bengals, and the Ravens are the best team in the division with a record of 5-4. The AFC South is nothing to brag about. The Texans are the only team the division can boast, and that’s a mediocre team that could be done on wild-card weekend.

The NFC has its problems. Sure, the NFC East has three winning teams and a Super Bowl contender in the Cowboys. Other than that, so much garbage teams. In the NFC West, it’s the Seahawks, and that’s it. The NFC North has the Lions in first place at 5-4 with the Vikings and Packers freefalling.

The NFC South offers only the Falcons when it comes to greatness, and they are only 6-4.

Don’t sell me this pap about parity. It’s teams playing mediocre football to awful football. The standings and results speak for itself.

What does it say that the Giants are a Super Bowl contender? They are 6-3, and they are right there for first place in the NFC East. They have benefitted from playing in a mediocre league, and it’s not like they are a great team. They haven’t beaten a great team this season.

The Broncos are the second-best team in the AFC, and their offense is dreadful. Their defense has helped them win games this season.

There are no clear-cut favorites in the NFL this year. It’s going to come down to whoever gets hot in January will win a championship. It is what it is in Roger Goodell’s NFL in the year of 2016.

Too many commercials and long pace of game have made it even more unbearable.

The NFL better hope this is an aberration. If it’s not, the league has to wonder if this is a start of a decline as a result of players not wanting to play football because of concussion issues.

The NFL has had so many great players for a long time, which is why the product is so good. But with the future of the sport, the NFL can’t feel comfortable anymore.

It could get worse before it gets better.