The New NFL and the Plight of College Kickers

The New NFL: The NFL is (was) a league that separated itself from the other major sports because of parity. “On any given Sunday” was a widely recognizable phrase that depicted what would transpire during each week of the regular season. The times are changing, and last year’s favorite dominated spread results might be the beginning of the end of parity. The difference between the good and bad teams was very clear, and it seems like more of the same this year. After 5 weeks, there has not been a “major” upset yet. Favorites of 7 points or more are a perfect 24-0 SU. In year’s past, a 7 point dog would win outright almost every week.

To further prove this point, a once solid money making angle that I have used very successfully in past NFL campaigns has spit the bit so far this year. Because the talent level of all NFL teams was so close, a good spot to play-on a team was when they came off a shutout loss. If you played that over the past 3 years, you would have gone 14-6-1 ATS for an outstanding 70%. That only happened 21 times in 512 games played for an average occurrence of 7 times per year. Already, teams have been held scoreless 6 times this year going just 1-4 SU and ATS with the NY Jets pending this week.

Will this continue or will we see a reversal of form? Considering that 1/3rd of the league have either 1 or 0 wins (10 of 32 teams) after 5 weeks has me believing that this will continue. Another factor might be the 10 coaching changes and 7 Rookie or 1st year starting QB’s. What made the NFL so popular (we know it’s the betting) according to the talking heads (parity) is not the current landscape. Is it a coincidence that former commissioner Paul Tagliabu, who is credited with revitalizing the NFL, felt it was time to retire? A lot of football left, so only time will tell.

Kickers Plight: The most excruciating part of this year’s football games has been watching the point after, especially when you need that point to cover a spread. Where are coaches getting these kids? With soccer being the most played youth sport, one would think a surplus of strong-legged kickers exists. Obviously, that’s not the case. What should be automatic, the art of the xtra point has turned into a comedy show. Off the top, Alabama, Minnesota, and Clemson have all lost in OT due to the missed point. Maybe coaches should just go for 2 instead, it’s a lot easier. If you had Kansas on Saturday, I apologize for bringing this up. After scoring to go ahead, Texas A&M goes for 2 and after what seemed like a play that took 15 seconds, QB McGee throws a jump ball from the 15 and they make the 2. Gotta love it. Teach your kids to kick for an easy scholarship and save yourself about 60k in tuition.