What Is Even The Point?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(02-15-2023, 10:35 AM)Tomkat Wrote: Nope.  The NFL could outright rig games, if they so choose.

https://americansportsplanet.com/are-nfl-games-rigged-heres-the-truth/



"Close games enhance the excitement and drama and result in more betting viewers. The NFL and its gambling partners bank on millions of people watching and placing bets on their games. It’s funny how much closer the score lines have grown when you compare the first half of Super Bowls and those post 9/11:

• Superbowl 1-35: Only 9 games were decided by a touchdown or less, and only 2 games had been decided by a single field goal or less – the average win was by 16.7 points (or more than 2 touchdowns.)
  
• Superbowl 36-51: A whopping 10 out of 16 games have been decided by a single touchdown or less, 5 came down to a field goal or less – the average win was by 8.7 points."
  

I'm under the "the NFL plays favorites and refs have biases, either instructed or innate" category of this debate. I think the whole script nonsense is just a way to distract from the fact that there are issues by painting it in a goofy light.

That said, the whole Super Bowl point that article seems to be trying to make? It's ignoring a really important thing that happened in the mid-late 90s. Teams had to be built under a salary cap and free agency became a thing. The America's Team Cowboys were the last dominant roster built without having to worry about a salary cap.

Think of all the good players who change teams in FA every year now because of cap reasons. Those guys would stay on their team in the past and that team would just keep getting better, and that led to the blowouts. Significantly more talent disparity than the NFL has today.