Look, I didn’t intend to come out of the box on a Friday morning calling for the NFL to cease operations, but sometimes in life you have to take a stand.
For some folks, it’s world hunger. For me, it’s calling out the NFL, which, frankly, has become unwatchable, unenjoyable, and is bordering on becoming the NBA.
That’s right. The NBA. The most woke, most unexciting league in the history of time. That’s what the NFL is becoming. I’d say “slowly but surely,” but it’s not even that slow at this point.
I think we’ve got a five-alarm fire on our hands, folks, and it is RAGING after last night’s fiasco.
Note to anyone at the league office who reads OutKick – and I know that’s a bunch of you, even though you won’t admit it because you may get canceled for it – STOP THROWING FLAGS ON EVERY SINGLE PLAY.
Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it. It’s miserable. You’re making us miserable. The product stinks, it’s fragmented, and, frankly, we’re all just getting tired of it.
Thursday Night Football sort of sucks on its own, if we’re being honest. The games usually aren’t great. They’re also hard to find because they’re on Amazon Prime, and that’s a whole situation in itself.
So when you combine that with what we saw in last night’s Cowboys-Giants game – 15 penalties, most in the first half – you’re setting yourself up for failure:
The refs after getting to throw flags every play during the Cowboys Giants game pic.twitter.com/dcKskZa8lc
— Conald Peterson (@WhyGarth) September 27, 2024
Giants vs. Cowboys 1st half summary.
The NFL refs tonight are the worst…
Through the flags CeeDee Lamb, Malik Nabers, DeMarvion Overshown have played great.
Terrible officiating has made the game look better than anticipated #TNFonPrime pic.twitter.com/blrum7xe9q
— Kyle Tusing (@ktusing34) September 27, 2024
Everyone watching the Cowboys Giants having a mid off tonight with a flag every other play pic.twitter.com/qmoi824nWC
— Dallas Texas TV (@DallasTexasTV) September 27, 2024
10 penalties but feels like 50 flags in the first half. #Cowboys #Giants
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) September 27, 2024
147 flags have been called in the first half of this Giants and Cowboys game. That is the most flags in a half in a single game in NFL history.
— Rads (@Knicksin41) September 27, 2024
The NFL needs to reverse course, quick
I mean, my God. It was awful. I was so annoyed watching that game, and I wasn’t alone.
I’m in a giant group chat with a bunch of degenerate gamblers, and everyone was beyond done with that shitshow from the refs last night. They all had enough. One fella even said he was gonna walk away from the NFL for good.
While I’m not there yet, it’s all becoming a bit ridiculous. That’s why I stopped watching the NBA years ago. Well, one of the reasons. The other being how insufferably woke the league is, but that’s not the point here.
But the NBA is a constant ref show. That’s all it is. Whistle every 10 seconds. A billion free throws a game. No rhythm. It’s the worst.
Frankly, it’s why hockey is lowkey the best sport on this planet. No whistles. Rarely any stoppage time. Just 20 straight minutes of battering each other on ice. Then you take a break and do it all again. It’s the best.
But the NFL has gotten beyond ridiculous this season with the flags. It’s enough already. If I see one more “procedure” penalty called, I will toss my TV into the Atlantic. I can’t take it anymore.
Hey, refs. We don’t need you to throw a flag on someone because they moved an inch on the kickoff. We don’t want that. It’s the worst. Stop it. I promise, we don’t care. Let ‘em move. Go for it. It’s worth it if it means you don’t make everyone go back and re-tee. I can’t take another kick. Please, make it end.
And the new kickoff sucks, by the way. Get rid of that crap, too.
Anyway, it was all bad, and it’s been unusually bad for the league through four weeks this season. Al Michaels, bless his heart, spoke for America last night.
And when you lose Al, you lose us:
AL MICHAELS: i want to beat every referee to death with a hammer
KIRK HERBSTREIT: devin singletary went to florida atlantic university
— Bill DiFilippo (@billdifilippo) September 27, 2024
“The refs have logged into Amazon and ordered some new flags” is an all time broadcast moment on Thursday Night Football. I love you Al Michaels
— nate (@natenixon_1) September 27, 2024
“It looks like June 14th here, otherwise known as Flag Day, as you know.” – Al Michaels, as there are flags left and right throughout Thursday Night Football. 🏈🎙️🦓 #NFL #TNF pic.twitter.com/Fn1YuiYmgp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 27, 2024
“And for a change there’s no flag ….
“Never want to jump the gun with this crew”
Al Michaels is a national treasure
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 27, 2024