After six weeks of a very forgetful NFL season, The National Football League has a huge problem. No it's not whether players want to sit, stand, or kneel during the National Anthem, or the lack of proper discipline with players who abuse their girlfriends. It isn't even the President of the United States calling for a "boycott of the NFL." As big as all of those problems might be, there is one that looms larger than all: Incompetent quarterbacks. Yes, this is the biggest adversity the NFL is facing.
Does anyone really care if Mike Pence leaves a Colts game because a player didn't stand for the anthem?
Americans just want to watch a good football game, and this season, the NFL has not provided us with that. Sure other aspects like racism, mistreatment of players by ownership, and everything in between isn't a good look for the shield but fans have looked past all of those things for years because of quality quarterbacks.
Lack of skill
Playing quarterback in the NFL is one of, if not, the most important position in all of sports. Since 2000, 13 of the 16 NFL MVP's have been quarterbacks. If your team even wants a remote chance at making a legitimate run at the Super Bowl it better have an elite quarterback. These are the QB's who have won the past five Super Bowl's; Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, and Joe Flacco.
Peyton Manning has since retired Tom Brady's age has really shown, leaving a wide-open opportunity for literally anyone to be considered as the best QB in the NFL.
Brady and the Patriots have a four and two record with poor performances against teams such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets. Alex Smith is actually the best QB in the league right now even with his abysmal performance against the Steelers yesterday.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers looked like they were going to cakewalk to a Lombardi trophy until he broke his collarbone yesterday. Honestly, I think Deshaun Watson may be the best QB in the league right now and if you had told me that at the beginning of the season I would've called you crazy.
Who will step up?
The NFL has no superteam or heavy favorite this far into the year.
According to Bovada, the New England Patriots are favored at +450 to win the Super Bowl followed by the Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs. The favorite to win the MVP is Carson freaking Wentz at +175. That means Vegas thinks Carson Wentz is the best player in the NFL - talk about a lack of talent. The 24-year-old Wentz has played in 22 games and odds-makers already think he is the most valuable player. Good for him and the Eagles, but man oh man does the NFL need to step its game up and have better QB talent? Young guys like Jared Goff, Deshaun Watson, and, well that's pretty much it, have oodles of potential to be the next big thing in this league but until that happens the NFL is going to be an even bigger crapshoot than it was before.
