This has to be the weakest group of four I recall. Generally speaking, defenses win championships, and Atlanta's defense blows, the Steelers and Packers d's are subpar, and the Pats, while 1st in the league in points per game, is not some great defense. I actually find them just average or slightly above and the yards they give up and their schedule is a better reflection of that.
I'm not sure who I'm really rooting for but my sentiment and the noticeable drop in ratings this year should be concerning to the league. Brady and Manning, along with other high profile guys, really carried this league for the last 15+ years and I think the NFL is now starting to see that if you look at ratings. Manning retired. Brady was suspended the first four games. Romo was out all year. AP was out basically all year. Leveon was out the first three games. Cam and the Panthers sucked. Luck and the Colts were mediocre. All this on the tail-end of many, many domestic incidents in the last two years and the NFL is really, perhaps desperately, in need of a couple of fresh young faces to carry the league forward for the next decade or two. Manning and Brady were for the most part squeaky clean, and Manning was very charismatic and Brady a male model basically, their playoff rivalry huge for the league. Going ahead, Winston doesn't have the image to be one of those guys imo. Cam is very unlikeable. Luck is one of those guys but they're a mediocre team. I think Mariota could definitely be one of those guys but he's in the same division as Luck, and like him, must win and win when it matters to do so. The Cowboys now being young and studly helps but the league still needs another couple qb's to take off, especially as guys like Brady, Ben, Eli, and Philip near the end of their career. I'm guessing Sam Darnold will become one of those guys in the next couple years but again I'm curious how ratings are in the next 3-5 years.
