By Marvin Moore November 2, 2023
The pass-happy NFL has a big problem. The quarterback-driven league has an unimpressive lineup of signal-callers under center at the midway point of the season. It’s a nightmare scenario for Roger Goodell and his cabal of sleazy owners. And it’s a problem that is here to stay.
The Week 9 slate started on Thursday night with Tennessee Titans rookie Will Levis and Pittsburgh Steelers’ second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett dueling it out. Unsurprisingly, the contest ended with five field goals and one scoring pass with four minutes left on the clock. Perhaps the league should be called the place-kicker league?
A trio of games will showcase marquee names at quarterback. The showdown between Tua Tagvailoa and Patrick Mahomes in Frankfurt, Germany, is ratings gold. Fans will also be excited to see Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott go toe-to-toe in an NFC East showdown and Joe Burrow and Josh Allen butt heads in an AFC thriller. Maybe Geno Smith will rise to the occasion opposite Lamar Jackson? But that’s it. If you like offense, it’s best to switch the channel to the NBA this weekend.
The bookmakers have also taken notice of the mediocre quarterbacks playing this week. On Thursday night, the projected total of points Vegas thought would be scored was just 37. The two squads failed to reach that low bar with 36 points. A whopping nine of the 14 games on the schedule are expected to tally a combined 41 points or fewer. That’s ridiculous. Five games are predicted to score less than 40 points. That’s ridiculously funny.
I feel sorry for the guys in the booths this week. The NFL is all about marketing and promotions, and play-by-play announcers and their sidekicks will need help to convince their audiences that the quarterbacks on display are talented playmakers. But one group is licking their chops. The defense will take center stage with plenty of sacks and interceptions. Take that rules committee.
How bad is this week’s list of starting quarterbacks? In Atlanta, Jaren Hall (0-0) or Joshua Dobbs (1-9), along with Taylor Heinicke (12-12-1) will be the headliners. The Cardinals vs. Browns contest will feature Clayton Tune (0-0) and P.J. Walker (5-4). In Green Bay, Brett Rypien (2-1) and Jordan Love (2-6) will be directing the offensive units. And it only gets worse.
Sam Howell (4-5) and Mac Jones (18-21) will be the field generals in the Commanders and Patriots contest. Howell has suffered an eye-popping 41 sacks and has been dropped four or more times in all but one game this season. In the desert, the Giants will trot out Daniel Jones (22-35-1), while the Raiders will give the starting nod to Aidan O’Connell (0-1). It’s possible that the defensive units will outscore the offenses in this low-scoring affair.
The quarterback matchups are so darn ugly that a Baker Mayfield (34-42) vs. C.J. Stroud (3-4) seems appealing. Heck, I’ll even watch Gardner Minshew (9-19) vs. Bryce Young (1-5). The NFL is fortunate that the World Series is over because the Texas Rangers’ offense is more explosive to watch than most of the offensive units that will be on display this weekend.
At the midway point of the 2023-24 NFL season, the league and its media partners are enjoying record-high ratings in the first year of the NFL’s new $125 billion rights deal. But although ratings are at an eight-year high, there are clouds forming in the second half of the season. A buffet of rules has failed to limit the exposure of franchise quarterbacks to serious injury. And the number of elite quarterbacks is at an all-time low.
Mahomes, Tagovailoa, Burrow, Hurts, Jackson, and Allen have the league on their shoulders. An injury to a few of these marquee gunslingers would deal a severe blow to the TV ratings that fill the NFL coffers. Defense wins championships. But explosive offenses and big-play touchdowns are what fuels television viewership.
The NFL’s worst fears are coming true at the worst time possible. It’s a problem that rules cannot fix. But the league only has itself to blame. When you put all your marbles in one bag, it’s essential you don’t lose that bag. You cannot be a pass-happy league without the elite passers.
