Downward Ratings And a Strangely Memorable Game
In a season marred by falling ratings, perhaps the Seattle-Arizona Sunday-Night tie will be infamous in that conversation. Ratings for the game were down 15 percent from the Sunday Night game of the same week last season. For those who saw it, they may remember the great defense from both teams, but they’ll also remember the missed opportunities by both teams to win the game. For the Seahawks, it was something of a trademark game, like the NFC Championship comeback against Green Bay at the end of 2014 where it doesn’t matter how badly you’ve been outplayed, crunch time is crunch time. For those who were among the 15 percent doing other things on Sunday, Seattle was shutout until the last five minutes of regulation in a game that ended in a 6-6 tie, with three points for each side coming in overtime. In a 75-minute game, the Seahawks were held to under 29 minutes of possession and had 11 first downs. They committed 10 penalties, and converted only three of 14 third-downs. On the other hand, they kept Arizona out of the end zone and kept themselves in the game.
[Poll: Anthem protests hurting NFL TV ratings]A Seton Hall Sport Poll indicates the number one factor in declining ratings is in response to that fact that some players are not standing during the national anthem. This seems like an odd reason since anthems aren’t usually part of the broadcast. The second reason is the presidential election, and third is oversaturation of games, which is probably the one I find most surprising. While I concede that there are a lot of sports on television, NFL broadcasts don’t make up a large portion of them. In a typical weekend you get five games spread out over Thursday, Sunday and Monday. You get more if there’s a London game or one of the networks offers a rare double-header. I find it much easier to be a couch potato on a college-football Saturday where there are so many games going on that you can always watch some live action during the halftime of another contest. On NFL Sundays, unless you enjoy the halftime experts, intermission is usually a good time to do something else. I don’t think the London games are causing too much trouble. They’re on so early, most fans aren’t in the habit of expecting a game. And they’re not exactly must-see television. The Jacksonville Jaguars have played in London four years running. The Jags haven’t had a winning record since 2007, though they were .500 in 2010.
The fact that the Seahawks played in such a strange — I won’t say forgettable — game speaks largely to their team. They are the best defensive team in the league. In their seven games this season they have surrendered 20 points or more only once. And it speaks for their offense, too. A questionable, bargain-basement line, protecting a hobbling quarterback. The game itself, was, in sense, what the league wants. It was something people were talking about. Personally I’ll take a low-scoring struggle over a game like New Orleans’ 52-49 win over the New York Giants last season. That brings up this week’s opponent, the Saints, who started out 0-3 this year and are now 2-4. They have scored more than 30 points in four games this year and surrendered less than that in only two contests. If they can score against Seattle, the Seahawks may have trouble staying with them, although Seattle managed to win in against a similar team in their 26-24 win over Atlanta the week before the game against Arizona. The last time Seattle played the Saints was in the divisional playoffs for the 2013 season, when the Seahawks went on to win the Super Bowl. Sunday’s game will be Seattle’s first game at New Orleans since 2010, when the Saints beat the Seahawks during Pete Carroll’s first year as the Seattle coach. The teams made a major trade after the 2014 season when the Seahawks acquired TE Jimmy Graham in exchange for C Max Unger and a 2015 first-round draft choice. With the pick the Saints took LB Stephone Anthony from Clemson. Graham was limited to six games last season due to a torn tendon. He’s made a nice recovery and has recorded five or more catches in each of the last four games.
