Most of the articles and blog posts you read about today’s Browns’ loss to the Steelers will speak highly of Colt McCoy. And I agree - McCoy played about as well as anyone could have hoped … aside from the two picks and the five sacks … but there is reason, at the very least, to be positive about what we saw today from a young QB that has not been terribly impressive in the past.
Because everyone else is going to write about McCoy, I don’t want to waste much more of your time by being redundant. Instead, I’d like to emphasize how the viciousness of professional football is impacting the competitive nature of the game.
Earlier in the season, we saw the Browns take advantage of TJ Ward’s shot to the head of Cincinnati’s Jordan Shipley. With the Bengals down a receiver, Carson Palmer and company struggled to move the ball. Ultimately, Cleveland won. Today, Pittsbugh’s James Harrison took both Josh Cribbs and Mohammed Massoquai out of the game with violent collisions. The Browns were behind almost the entire game - McCoy had to throw the ball a lot to play catch-up - and, as a result, he pass with both his #1 and #2 receivers in the locker room.
Football is a modern day gladiator sport. I understand that the players know what they’re getting into and all - or almost all of them - wouldn’t stop playing even if you told them there was a 90% chance they would spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair. In other words, I won’t write about player safety - but I will write about competitive balance.
Simply put, there is no disincentive for a defensive player to purposely attempt to injure an offensive opponent. Harrison, surprisingly, wasn’t flagged for either hit. But even if he had been, the penalty would have only been for 15 yards. Those yards can make a big difference in a game, but they will never have the same impact that losing a “star” player can have.
As far as I’m concerned then, there is a stronger incentive for defensive players to injure offensive players than there is for them not to. This is problematic for perhaps obvious reasons. Not only does it change the competitive balance of the game, but it can also change the competitive balance of an entire season. Since teams play divisional opponents twice, sometimes three times if they both make the playoffs, there is an even greater incentive to harm players within the division.
I would argue that injuries are one of the main reasons there is so much parity in the NFL.
It is time for the NFL to institute new rules that allow defenders making illegal hits to be ejected from the game. The NBA does it already. MLB will toss pitchers out of the game for intentionally throwing at batters. The NFL is the most violent of all three of these sports, yet similar rules are not in place.
Why?
Probably because the NFL knows violence sells. And so does parity. So why would the league take real steps to extract both of those elements from the game? They wouldn’t. And they haven’t. And they probably never will.
Of course, most fans don’t truly care either. Players have short careers. They are easily replaced. We care, obviously, about our own children - and eventually, I suspect, this will catch up to the NFL and to football in general. Maybe. Time will tell.
Until then, Go Browns.
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