ESPN’s Greenberg: Caliber of play in NFL has diminished

For “Mike and Mike” co-host Mike Greenberg, watching Monday’s matchup between the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos was a no-brainer.

The ESPN radio host told 104.3 The Fan’s “Schlereth and Evans” Tuesday that he is “glued” to any game Broncos quarterback, and fellow Northwestern alumnus, Trevor Siemian plays.

“I’m so thrilled to see my Northwestern Wildcat playing quarterback and playing well and winning games. So that part of it was going to catch my interest regardless,” Greenberg said.

But television viewership of games has dropped by double-digits in 2016, leaving the NFL scrambling to find a fix.

And though Greeny said he’s not entirely sure if it’s contributed to declining NFL viewership, he said he’s observed the “overall caliber of the sport” diminish in recent years.

“I think there are probably a lot of little factors (for the drop in viewership),” Greenberg said. “I’m not one who believes the sky is falling for football because the television ratings are down. I do, however, believe that the product just comparatively stinks.”

Greenberg pointed to the number of penalties called in the prime time games thus far this season, generally poor offensive play, and the legislation of big hits out of the game as potential factors in the ratings decline.

“They’ve taken all the big hits out of the game. And that’s the right thing to do. You don’t want guys launching with their heads. You want to try to make an unsafe game as safe as it can reasonably be,” Greenberg said. “But the truth is big hits were one of the things that made football so exciting and attractive, and those have been legislated out of the sports.”

And the reignited chatter over the qualities of the NFL’s prime time product comes after a Sunday Night Football affair between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals that ended in a 6-6 tie.

Greenberg said a low-scoring game can be quite exciting if it’s due to two strong defenses, but usually the case is two struggling offenses.

“A really, really, really good defensive game is fabulous to watch, but a lot of low-scoring games, in my opinion, are not low-scoring because the defense is great; it’s because the offense has been largely lousy,” Greenberg said.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.