Pre-Season Football: Here’s The Reality

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There are two ways to look at the NFL with two weeks to go before it all gets underway for real.

One is the impatient, quick-to-judge style on everything good and not so good.

Understandable considering fans have been salivating since the end of the last season for action on the field. The other is to realize it’s all a process that actually won’t be sorted out for several weeks, maybe half the year.

Many if not most of the fans and especially the media don’t want to hear about the second choice. They want to draw definitive conclusions right now.

That’s laughable.

The truth is pre-season indicates very little. I know because I was part of it for years during my broadcasting career. Over the course of time, I was in the booth for the Steelers, Patriots, Colts, Redskins, Ravens, Rams, Bears for one game, and the Dolphins for 10 years.

Once upon a time, teams played six pre-season games, and the starters were in for most of them. Now it’s different. They play only three games now, and the starters very often see action for only a handful of series or none at all.

The fans and the media want to see results and be able to declare how their team or the team they are covering are doing. Are they looking good? Who’s playing well? Who is not? What’s wrong with the team? What do they need to do to fix it? Can they fix it?

If they’re looking good the season ahead is promising. If not, they’re in trouble.

If a highly touted rookie, particularly a quarterback is impressive, their worries may be over. If he struggles, they drafted the wrong guy, or the problems remain.

There has to be judgment. There is no such thing as a work in progress.

Here’s the reality.

There is a pre-season schedule for the following reasons. Money leads the parade.

Every time a stadium opens its gates for any game, cash pours in. It is also programming for networks who pay an incredible amount for TV rights.

Nearly every team has a similar plan for pre-season encounters.

Here’s what they want to accomplish: Work on running plays on both sides of the ball in game situations for the purpose of establishing a smooth operation getting ready for the season. Look at all the players on the roster, other than the starters, to see them in game action. They include all of those drafted, and in particular, the free-agent rookies signed after the draft to see if they have a chance of making the 53-man unit, of which 48 dress for each game. Teams have a 16-man practice squad.

There may be as many as 90 players available at the start of a team’s formal practices in advance of the pre-season games. So, the personnel and coaching staff see who will contend for the back end of the rosters as well as the practice squad.

In pre-season no team constructs a game-plan for their opponent. They do not watch film of who they are playing to learn their strengths and weaknesses.

They do not introduce new plays on both sides of the ball that they will begin to put into action week 1.  No team tips its hand.

Everyone looks to win all the time, but it’s more about learning more about the players they don’t know that much about, than about the ones they know all about.

There is no better example than last Sunday’s game when the Chicago Bears beat the Buffalo Bills 38-0. There may be strong reactions to that result, but the fact is, the Bills are a leading candidate to play and win a Super Bowl this season, while the Bears are likely to finish last in their division. Bills QB Josh Allen didn’t see the light of day against the Bears, but Caleb Williams, Chicago’s #1 pick and quarterback hopeful did play and did play well. But he didn’t face an opponent that watched him on film and had a plan to make him uncomfortable. Also, he didn’t work against the best of Buffalo’s defense.

It was just another exercise getting closer to opening day.

The same goes for Jaxson Dart, the rookie quarterback of the New York Giants who has been “impressive” so far for what looks in pre-season like a vastly-improved team.

Hold the champagne, or at least the party hats.

Similar stories are abound throughout the league. I fully understand that the media has to talk about something, television and radio outlets have to fill program time.

Jumping to any kind of conclusion is pure folly.

I’ll even take it a step farther. The team that pares its roster for the first game may not even bear resemblance to what we see in the latter stages of the campaign.

Believe it or not, there are countless adjustments made in strategy and personnel made well into the season. What you see when it counts for real may not be the way it is at the end.

After a pre-season of rushing to judgment by fans and media, the first game brings even more. If a contending outfit loses its opener, or struggles in the first month, they are written off, and possibly their head coach is on the hot seat.

If a question mark wins early, they become a strong contender.  You see it every season and it’s way off the mark.

Last year the Eagles lost two of their first four games. They have no chance the “experts” said.  How did that work out? How about a Super Bowl championship. Some other team might surprise and even win five straight. Then, they hit the skids.

It happens all the time.

From what I see, there is no longer any kind of perspective in the way the media covers, not only the NFL, but all sports.

What I would suggest, but don’t expect, is that those observing teams as they make their way to the starting gate and beyond, is to digest what they see, watch for changes and hopefully improvements as they go forward, knowing that it’s really a marathon.

There are ebbs and flows during a 17-game schedule. There are highs and lows during games, and no such thing as a “sure win” going in. Anyone can win anytime. It’s not who is better. It’s who plays better. And who wins, regardless of the score. Recently reporters asked Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about the problem of playing so many close games in 2024. Reid replied that his team won practically all of those tight contests. That’s all that counted. Winning. Whatever it takes. Every year, the cream appears to rise to the top when December rolls around.

Nothing is really decided until the final four or five games, and so much will happen between now and then.

So how important, other than crippling injuries, is anything going on right now?

Patience and perspective.  That’s what it’s all about.