Thursday, in one of what are now almost weekly rants about all that ails the NFL, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman mentioned, among many other things, the mixed messages the league sends.
"They say we're trying to influence kids, and that's their biggest thing," he said. "Their biggest ploy is you don't want to be a bad influence to kids. You don't want to be a bad role model. And I can agree with that. But in the same breath, you can't say Budweiser is the official sponsor of the NFL, and we're trying to influence kids. So there's a ton of hypocrisy."
Another area that draws his great ire _ the way games are officiated _ could be viewed as similarly working at cross purposes.
While the league is cracking down more than ever on any sort of fun after the whistle _ post-touchdown celebrations, for instance _ its rules during plays itself, or at least the enforcement of them, seem increasingly aimed at producing fireworks on the scoreboard.
In a quote that quickly went viral, Sherman also said Thursday the NFL "is not fun anymore" in the way that it legislates against players showing any kind of personality on the field (hugging officials, for instance, is a really big no no, apparently).
But in the same game where Earl Thomas was penalized for, basically, overexuberance, just about every other flag thrown was aimed at increasing the entertainment level _ or at least, what the league appears to feel fits that description _ of the game itself.
Every call the Seahawks protested _ five flags against the defense and two non-calls against New Orleans _ aided the offense.
That it was New Orleans' offense that benefited is what understandably most grated Seattle fans. But Sherman's postgame comments ripping what he called "egregious" officiating were also aimed at the broader picture of the NFL seeming to increasingly favor offense _ especially passing.
Sherman noted after Sunday's game that "it's hard to play defense these days." A week ago, asked if anything needed to be done to improve officiating, Sherman said the league wouldn't change anything "because it's not affecting the offense, it's not affecting points being scored. They don't care if the defense is not getting calls."
Maybe that sounds like so much whining to some people.
But the facts are on Sherman's side, facts that also seem at odds with the idea that TV ratings would be declining because the games simply don't feature as much action as they used to.
Through games of Monday, NFL teams were averaging 22.9 points per game, fourth-most in league history and second in the Super Bowl era behind only the 23.4 of 2013.
Two other stats _ total yards and passing yards _ are at all-time highs.
NFL teams are averaging 357.0 yards per game _ more than 4 yards more than the 352.7 of last year that was the previous high. In a sign of the way that offense has increased of late, that total is almost 30 yards more than the 327.2 of 2008.
Passing is also at an all-time high. NFL teams are averaging 249.1 yards per game this season (all numbers from ProFootballReference.com), more than 5 yards more than the 243.8 of last season and a whopping almost 26 yards more than 2010, when NFL teams averaged 221.6 yards per game passing.
All of that is also leading to lower-than-ever rushing numbers _ the 107.9 average of this season is the lowest since 1991, when average total offense was just 306.8 per game _ with teams having increasing incentive to pass. Maybe, some might argue, quarterbacks and receivers are also simply better than they have ever been.
Regardless, as Seahawks coach Pete Carroll noted this week, there has never been a better time to throw the ball.
"I think as we grow and evolve, the passing game just gets easier," Carroll said. "It gets easier for the quarterbacks, it gets easier for the coaches and that doesn't help the defenses at all. You get more confident in being able to control the ball by throwing it, efficiencies are getting a little better. I think that's what you see, and guys just keep getting at it. In the old days, you worried about throwing the ball, you might get an interception. That's not in anybody's mindset anymore. You know that can happen, but that's the way to go for most people."
With rules and enforcement of them that appear designed to keep it that way.
