After four weeks of the 2022 NFL season, my primary emotion is meh. Sure, there have been lots of close games. Within the AFC North, nine of the 14 games played (two intra-divisional) have been decided by seven points or less. Thrilling, exciting? Not always-I think it is usually more a case of two teams slogging it out, neither able to make enough plays to distance themselves from the other.
But isn’t that kind of the NFL this year? I’m not saying there have not been ANY good games. The Ravens-Dolphins game was exciting for sure. Bill-Dolphins, probably. Besides that the football sure hasn’t been compelling very often so far.
I believe one factor driving the deterioration in the quality of the games is free agency. There are definitely major benefits to the NFL’s current free agency system. It gives players leverage for higher salaries and greater ability to leave a bad situation. It also gives teams the ability to rebuild and fix mistakes quicker than the pre-free agency days.
Unfortunately, football, much more than any other major professional team sport, requires players to learn complicated systems within which they need to coordinate their actions with ten other players. These systems, on both sides of the ball, become more and more complicated over time. By the time a team is settling into a system and working effectively, it is usually disrupted by player movement, coaching changes, or both. Add injuries into that mix and cohesion is often more of a concept than a reality.
There is a reason that you don’t see dynasties anymore. What New England did in the 2000’s and 2010’s looks more amazing as the years go by. Of course, they had the same coach and quarterback for that entire stretch-hardly a coincidence. We are not likely to ever see that happen again.
The great dynasties of the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s were teams that had stable coaching situations and kept the cores of their teams together for years. Lombardi’s Packers, Noll’s Steelers, Landry’s Cowboys, Gibbs’ Redskins, Parcell’s Giants, Walsh’s 49ers-stable championship organizations. The Cowboys may have been a dynasty in the 90’s beyond their three Super Bowl championships in four years, but the ego clash between Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones short circuited it.
Please don’t misunderstand me, I still love the game of football, and I admire and respect the players who play it. There are tremendously gifted athletes playing this game, although I think gloves are the new stickum-I don’t think some of the receivers making these acrobatic one-handed catches are THAT good.
I wonder if any coach has thought about devising a simple system, one that is not so difficult to learn and master, and just grind it out in practice to approach perfection. Lombardi did that in the ‘60s-a simpler time and a simpler game for sure. I still wonder, though, if maybe there will come a head coach that can simplify modern schemes and just out-execute their opponents. Since the NFL is such a copycat league, it would only take one to hoist the Lombardi Trophy and tout their simplified system for the rest of the league to move in that direction. Sigh, I can dream, can’t I? Until then, I’ll keep watching and hope the league can emerge from its funk and let these athletes shine and excite the fans.
There are two big stories to talk about in the AFC North, the changeover at quarterback in Pittsburgh, and the upcoming Ravens-Bengals matchup on Sunday Night Football.
Regarding the Steelers, I really feel bad for Mitch Trubisky. Pittsburgh signed him under what turned into false pretenses. He was going to inherit the QB mantle from Big Ben and have an opportunity to make the starting job his, to resurrect his floundering career. Then, the Steelers drafted not just a first-round QB, but the hometown favorite, and suddenly Trubisky was on very shaky footing.
He may have been anyway-his play over the first three weeks was hardly inspiring. Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin had continued to insist that Trubisky was the starter…then suddenly he wasn’t, and the Kenny Pickett era has begun. Tomlin said he wanted a “spark,” and the kid delivered, but made too many mistakes to pull the game out against the Jets.
Pittsburgh is in trouble. TJ Watt will remain out for a while, and their other defensive front seven stalwart Cam Hayward is banged up. Their upcoming schedule, as I pointed out this summer, is rough. Pickett gets his first start at Buffalo, then the Steelers host Tampa Bay, visit Miami and Philadelphia, get a potential breather at home vs. the Saints, then host Cincinnati. Already sitting 1-3, they have the real potential of hitting their bye in week 8 with a 1-7 record. Tomlin’s streak of non-losing seasons is almost certain to end at 15.
So. what to make of the Bengals and Ravens? Cincinnati’s offensive line looked much better in pass protection against Miami than they had the first three games, but they are still struggling running the ball. Star running back Joe Mixon is only averaging 2.7 yards per carry. QB Joe Burrow seemed to find a better rhythm when he didn’t have to run for his life against the Dolphins, finding both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins downfield.
That is bad news for the Ravens. Fans remember all too well how Burrow and his receiving corps sliced and diced the Baltimore secondary twice last season, and I don’t see much reason to hope for a better result Sunday night. Bengals’ star DE Tray Hendrickson is playing very well and will be looking to disrupt the Ravens offense. If he succeeds, Sunday night could get ugly. If Lamar Jackson has room to work, however, he could keep Baltimore in the game and turn it into a shootout.
The Ravens offense needs to come up big in the second half like they did in New England and not diminish like they did against Miami and Buffalo. Let’s also hope Baltimore avoids any crucial fourth-and-short situations-that hasn’t been working out very well for a while now.
Then there’s Cleveland-I’ll take a bow for calling their loss at Atlanta last week. They host the Chargers this week, and the Browns just might win that one. RB Nick Chubb is having a great season, and replacement QB Jacoby Brissett is actually playing quite well. Brissett at times has risen above the expected role of game manager and made some plays.
The Cleveland defense, however, has been disappointing. The only offense they have stopped this season was Pittsburgh’s-not a major accomplishment. They are battling injuries to pass rushers Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney-those two need to step up and control the line of scrimmage to get that defense playing at the level that was expected-and is needed for them to win consistently.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski is hearing criticism for his play calling-see, it doesn’t just happen in Baltimore. Stefanski is hardly a charismatic leader-he is a very thoughtful, analytic coach. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but if the analytics aren’t resulting in effective play calling, where is he adding value?
In closing, let’s hope the Bengals-Ravens matchup can give us a game that will be worth getting excited about. Baltimore fans need it, but so do NFL fans in general. Let’s shake up this season of meh.
Notes from the North
The Ravens have lost their last five home games. They have also won 14 of their last 15 prime-time home games. One of those trends will change Sunday night.
The last Baltimore coach to lose as many as four consecutive home games was Brian Billick in 2007. He had just signed a five-year contract extension earlier in the year, but after the team finished a miserable 5-11 owner Steve Biscotti fired him anyway.
The natives in Pittsburgh are restless. Fans are pointing out that Tomlin has not won a playoff game since 2016. The switchover to Pickett at QB should settle them down, for a while anyway. Their last losing record was in 2003, the year before Big Ben arrived.
Until next time, you can find me on Twitter @jimjfootball and read my other work at jimjfootball.com.
Jim Johnson spent most of his life in Maryland, growing up with the Orioles, the Colts, Terps, and later Ravens. He started his sports writing career as “The Courtmaster,” covering the Terps and ACC hoops and was a frequent guest on Bob Haynie’s old WNST show and other sports talk across the region. He is currently in his second run at BSL. After previously covering Maryland and Big Ten Football, he now writes about the NFL, primarily the action in the AFC North. Jim covers both current and historic stories, seeking perspective and having fun in the process.