To me the actual product (games) is one piece of the puzzle of why we like the NFL. On field product may or may not be down this year. I do agree that the refs seem more inconsistent than ever before. Whats perfect about the NFL is playing once a week for 17 weeks and the build up/anticipation between games is unlike the other 3 major sports where they don't have as many days in between games. Its like watching a tv series back in the day before all 12 episodes were released at the same time. The slow burn! As an Eagles fan this week is pretty hype as its Dallas week. The city/suburbs are a buzz with discussion of how the game is going to go down. And there is the cottage industries around the NFL aheam cough cough gambling and fantasy. So while the product itself may be experiencing some bumps, the slow burn for me is the same. And OP is a Giants fan so its night and day following a 2-6 team vs a better team with a real shot to win in the playoffs (so maybe what I'm saying is I have a higher tolerance to the sub par games since my team is currently doing ok).
To me the actual product (games) is one piece of the puzzle of why we like the NFL. On field product may or may not be down this year. I do agree that the refs seem more inconsistent than ever before. Whats perfect about the NFL is playing once a week for 17 weeks and the build up/anticipation between games is unlike the other 3 major sports where they don't have as many days in between games. Its like watching a tv series back in the day before all 12 episodes were released at the same time. The slow burn! As an Eagles fan this week is pretty hype as its Dallas week. The city/suburbs are a buzz with discussion of how the game is going to go down. And there is the cottage industries around the NFL aheam cough cough gambling and fantasy. So while the product itself may be experiencing some bumps, the slow burn for me is the same. And OP is a Giants fan so its night and day following a 2-6 team vs a better team with a real shot to win in the playoffs (so maybe what I'm saying is I have a higher tolerance to the sub par games since my team is currently doing ok).