1.eliminate Thursday night games- what used to make football special is that there was football on Sunday and 1 Monday night game, then you went 5 full days without any NFL games, making the build up and appreciation that much greater. Now, before you can blink again, there is another football game on after the Monday night game ends. aside from that quality being nowhere near as good on Thursday nights compared to Sundays, it also takes a marquee game away from being shown on Sunday, lessening the amount of quality games for Sunday. i promise you nfl, no one will miss Thursday night football , the fans nor players like it. The only 2 Thursdays during the year i am ok with Thursday football are, opening night, as the Superbowl champion deserves there own night, and thanksgiving, 2 games only, as it is a tradition. if there must be a 3rd, but those are the only 2 Thursdays, im sure most fans can live.
2. penalties. no one wants to see a flag thrown on every freaking play. call the blatant calls only, like delay of games, offside, false starts, extreme holdings, etc. stop with the ticky tack penalties that have no real impact on the play, but are just called so the refs can be center of attention. it feels like there are so many penalties called just so the refs can have there moment. its a major problem when all the fans brains are wired to expect a penalty on every big play, which takes away from enjoying the moment.
3. replay system- absolute disaster. takes away momentum from the game, and in most times totally unnecessary reasons for them. like some posters stated above, if they'd scrap the entire replay system id be fine with that. Sure, some calls would be missed, but the games would move along way faster, and you would stop with these totally unnecessary replays that all they do is stop momentum, when at the end of the day, most calls are not overturned. The more realistic plan should be, give each team 2 or 3 challenges for the entire game, they can challenge whatever they want, be it a penalty , a td, etc. no more automatic reviews, even inside 2 minutes. if the team is right, they keep there challenge, if not they lose it, and once they run out, sucks for them. teams will have to be more cautious about what they want to review, as there will be no more automatic reviews on tds, turnovers, or under 2 minutes. preferably, 2 challenges as opposed to 3.
4. what is or isn't a catch. stop making to understand what a catch is, into a scientific experiment. its simple, if it looks like a catch, its a catch, if it dosent, its not. when 99 percent o the fans, coaches, or players for that matter dont know what a catch is, you know you got a major problem.
The nfl has tons to work on this off season, and that is why imo, aside from being a terrible commissioner, goodell should not have been given an extension until he at least showed he was willing to fix these issues.
