Mark Craig thinks the NFL preseason is too long (and it’s hard not to agree):
Let’s hope the commish steps up his goal of reducing the number of preseason games soon. VERY soon.
There’s never been another sport that’s so good in the regular season, great in the postseason and so completely awful and unwatchable in the preseason.
It’s bad for business, insulting to fans who have to buy full-price tickets to this garbage as part of season-ticket deals and pretty much useless for judging what’s going to happen next month.
For example, the Lions beat Atlanta 27-26 Saturday night. Way to go Lions. Way to start the Jim Schwartz Era. Restore the Roar, baby!
Oh, wait. The Lions were 4-0 in the preseason last year. That makes their preseason winning streak five and keeps their regular season losing streak at 17.
And that doesn’t cover the risks to starting players, as there always seems to be higher risk of injury during preseason games than regular season ones (this is not something I’ve seen stats on, and may just be a mistaken impression based on news coverage).
There’s much to be said about coaches needing a chance to see what players can do in game situations — there are some who look like superstars in practice but who can’t rise up to average in real games, and others who excel in games, but don’t look like much in practice. Talent is only part of what makes a good football player, and without some opportunity to play against real opposition, you really don’t know which category any given rookie player may be in.
