Why the NFL preseason matters
Thursday night, when the ball is kicked into the air at Gillette Stadium at 7:05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, our six-month football detox ends. For the next 26 weeks, NFL football will be a part of our lives, and that’s a good thing for everyone.
Even though the preseason doesn’t count, as evaluators, it helps us dig deeper under the hood of teams to better understand their strengths and weaknesses. For the last four months, we have heard and read all the predictions about players and teams as they danced around in their T-shirts and shorts, which isn’t football.
As Vince Lombardi once said, “Football isn’t a contact sport; it’s a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” Once the pads are introduced and collisions ensue, then the game changes, the players change, and our evaluations change. So starting tomorrow, get those erasers ready.
Many believe the preseason is meaningless. Records in the preseason might be meaningless, but how teams perform in certain situations can indicate future problems. Looking at the box score, scoreboard or a player's individual statistics isn’t going to help you when betting Week 1.