5-at-10: NFL's shocking bad numbers, Bobby Petrino's rebirth, Braves as buyers, Rushmore of baseball announcers


              Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) looks for an opening to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Monday, Sept. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Tenally)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) looks for an opening to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Monday, Sept. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Tenally)

NFL's wake-up call

We spoke about this on Tuesday's Press Row, but now we have some extra numbers, courtesy of Jason Barrett sports media. NFL broadcasts for the opening weekend were down Sunday and Monday on every channel.

Monday night's Washington-Pittsburgh game got a 9.1 rating, down from a 9.8 last year and slightly down from a 9.2 on the 2014 MNF opener for ESPN. The nightcap, which included the much ballyhooed protest from Colin Kapernick, drew a 7.1, down almost 25 percent from last year's 9.5. (And the matches were similarly stinky, considering last year was 49ers-Vikings and this year was 49ers-Rams.)

NBC's matchup of Cardinals-Patriots on Sunday night was down 11 percent with a 14.8 compared to last year's 16.7. To be fair last year had the Giants and the Cowboys, which is a TV programmer's wildest scenario. Biggest market + America's team = eyeballs.

Fox had the Giants-Cowboys in the 4 p.m. national window, and the 16.9 was higher than what CBS drew in the week 1 4 p.m. slot, but it was the lowest national opening window on Fox since 2009.

So what about the dream Super Bowl rematch of last Thursday? Down. Despite drawing more than 25 million viewers and better than a 14 rating share, the Broncos' win over the Panthers was down 10 percent in ratings and eight percent in viewers from the 2015 Thursday night kickoff of Steelers-Patriots and down seven percent in each category from the '14 opener of Packers and Seahawks.

These are the numbers and they are clear. So what is the cause? That's the multi-billion question.

Well, it certainly is not a drop in fantasy players. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association's website gauged the number of fantasy players last year at 56 million. They put the number at 57 million this year. (While any growth is good growth, it's far from the giant leap fantasy football took the previous cycle, going from roughly 41 million to 56 million from 2014 to '15, according to the site.)

It's hard to believe less gambling is taking place. Let's explore the three options, and two of them not surprisingly can be be represented by Kaepernick.

First, in the non-Kaepernick category is the growing frustration of the casual fan of the NFL's self-inflicted wounds. From changing rules, be them safety-related issues or whatever, to off-the-field issues with violence or criminal activity, to the missteps of leadership, the NFL away from the stadium is more carnival than calming.

As for the others, well let's discuss the professional and the personal issues involving Kaepernick.

Professionally, Kaepernick was a shining star a mere three years ago - a young quarterback that was very realistically two plays away from winning back-to-back Super Bowls. Since then, the wheels have fallen off. It's part of a growing problem around the league.

Be it injury or inadequacies, look at the games that were the marquee matchup this weekend, and the quarterbacks prominently involved included first-time starters such as Trevor Siemian, Jimmy Garoppolo and Dak Prescott, as well as far-from-household names in Kirk Cousins and Case Keenum.

As for the personal issue involving Kaepernick, well, we all know about that. Extensively.

The NFL has been happy to sit this discourse out, but if TV numbers continue to fall - and maybe the opening weekend was an aberration - that's when the folks in the big offices in

Times Square are going to have to make some big-boy decisions.

photo Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino gets dunked by players as time runs out in the fourth quarter of the Music City Bowl NCAA college football game between Louisville and Texas A&M Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. Louisville won 27-21. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Rebirth of a coach

Bobby Petrino is a mad scientist's compilation of Cortez and Don Coryell.

Petrino, like the great explorer as burned his ships at almost every port. And like Coryell, he's an offensive genius.

Now, as his Louisville Cardinals get ready for a top-10 showdown against FSU in the biggest game in program history, Petrino is again reminding everyone why, despite his many missteps off the field, gets chance after chance.

Dude is an offensive wizard period.

And what he's doing with Lamar Jackson in this Cardinals' offense really can only make Atlanta Falcons fans even more bitter considering what could have been if Petrino and Mike Vick could have ever worked together. Wow.

Petrino has redrafted a career that was on the trajectory of "anything is possible" to the nadir of "professional pariah" to now he will be one of the hottest names on an open college market that figures to have a couple of monster jobs open in the months ahead.

photo Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco delivers against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

Baseball, and meaningful Braves news

The pennant races in Major League Baseball are rather yawn-inspiring. There is only one race closer than four games and half the races have gaps of nine or more. Included in that group are the Cubs, who have a magic number of three. Yes, it's Sept. 14 and there are three full weeks left in the season.

Here's a recap of the races as they sit this morning:

AL East - Boston leads Baltimore and Toronto by 2 and New York by 4.

AL Central - Cleveland leads Detroit by 6.

AL West - Texas leads Seattle 9.5.

NL East - Washington leads New York by 9.

NL Central - Chicago Cubs lead St. Louis by 16.

NL West - Los Angeles leads San Francisco by 4.

The wildcard races in each league, however does have some drama.

The AL Wildcard - Baltimore and Toronto are tied atop the wildcard standings followed by Detroit (2 back), New York (2), Seattle (2.5), Houston (4.5) and Kansas City (5).

The NL Wildcard - San Francisco is first and the Mets are second, followed by San Francisco (0.5) and Miami (5).

Also, here's a very interesting look from CBSsports.com at some of the potential big moves the Braves may make in free agency.

Atlanta GM John Coppolella took to Twitter and said the club will have the payroll to be players in the free agency, and with the obvious need for some extra pop in the lineup, bats figure to be task No. 1 (and 2).

This and that

- The Emmys are Sunday. Here's one critics frontrunners for the awards. Man we are to the place that cable channels so dominates network television it's surprising when a network show actually wins something.

- The Chicago White Sox hosted more than 1,000 dogs at the ballpark last night, setting the record for most dogs at a sporting event.

- Interesting discussion here about the Miss America pageant. Here's my question: Why are people offended? If those people want to do it and the contest still makes money, why do you even care? Safe Spaces. SAFE SPACES. Excuse us, we need a nap. And a drink. (Cue Mr. Mom: You want a beer? It's 7 o'clock in the morning. Scotch?)

- Want to know the next big name on the international free agent market? Meet Shohei Omati, the Japanese pitcher who was clocked recently at 102 mph. Oh yeah, dude is a starting pitcher for the Ham Fighters. (Yes, the Ham Fighters.)

Today's question

Offer what you wish, and feel free to go off the board.

We'll start here, and it's with a heavy heart that we officially know the end of the Vin Scully career. Scully, the golden-voiced man behind the mic for the Dodgers for the last 67 years, said he will not do the playoffs (if the Dodgers make it) this year. So, Scully's last game will be Oct. 2. Wow. What a career, right?

Rushmore of baseball announcers. Go.

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