Column: The NFL is again fun in the most surprising turn of the season
Column: The NFL is again fun in the most surprising turn of the season
Michael Thomas placed himself behind a post to get a phone in tribute to a memorable celebration of the touchdown moment. Benjamin Watson used his touchdown catch to let everyone know that he and his wife are waiting, and that they will be twins.
That was reason enough to celebrate it in a nice weekend for the NFL. So too, gamblers in Las Vegas and elsewhere finally changed tables and took the bookies for millions of dollars.
They could have been simply blowing champagne corks at the NFL headquarters in New York. A season that began in a state of turmoil has reached its midpoint and the league is reaching a new record, with television ratings and fans who fill the stadiums to cheer on their favorite teams.
Suddenly, the NFL is fun again.
He showed up on Sunday in a shootout in New Orleans that was widely entertaining even without the touchdown accessories. Then, if more evidence was needed, it was provided during prime time when Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers met in a confrontation between the great quarterbacks.
Brady and the New England Patriots won that, and once again they are treating another visit to the Super Bowl as their birthright. Meanwhile, in the West, the Rams are trying to win back fans in Los Angeles with a team that could also reach Atlanta.
And a new group of young and exciting field marshals is letting everyone know that the future of sport is in good hands.
What can go wrong? Well, a lot, especially if President Trump is interested in the league one more time.
But these are good times for a league that has received one blow after another in recent years only to emerge with its position as the favorite sport of the United States intact and safe.
"We are the best," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said at owner meetings last month. "And I know that's ironic, since we've also had some criticism, but I think that's healthy."
What is really healthy are the offenses in the league, with scores in record levels and 27 of 32 teams averaging more than 20 points per game. The new rule changes designed to protect quarterback and liberal offenses have worked exactly as planned, despite some anticipated grunts from players who could not hit as they did in the past.
In fact healthy. Things are so good that even Roger Goodell could not spoil it.
Actually, maybe I can. Not many paid attention, but there were still some protests during the anthem over the weekend and the problem is a presidential tweet to explode again.
Meanwhile, Colin Kaepernick remains unemployed, something everyone in the league should be ashamed of.
For now, however, the focus is on the game itself. And you can argue that the game has never looked better.
There is no longer confusion about when a capture is really a catch, and even Clay Matthews of the Packers seems to have figured out how and when to safely shoot down the opposing quarterback.
There are dominant teams on both coasts, and some high-scoring games that resemble the old American Football League. The concussion problem has diminished, although the worrying fact remains that the players still suffer, which represents a great risk to their health in the long term.
Even fans of the hapless Cleveland Browns have something to cheer about with a couple of wins and a couple of fired coaches. They also have a franchise quarterback at Baker Mayfield and a potential potential that is the envy of the best teams.
It did not happen exactly by design. Much of the NFL's good fortune is due to good luck and the unwillingness of fans to abandon their favorite sport despite its many shortcomings.
There is still no real grand plan to end the protest debate, there is no long-term solution to the fact that football played at the highest level can shorten lives. Arbitration continues to get in the way, often at the wrong time, and there is a real possibility that they will not be played when the current collective bargaining agreement expires and the players finally defend the guaranteed contracts.
For now, however, those are distant threats. The league remains by far the most popular in the country, and the addition of legalized bets across the country will further boost it, as fantasy football has done in recent years.
What once seemed like a lost season now seems like a season to remember.
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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to tdahlberg@ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg
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