Netflix’s Quarterback is a pretty good series that could be great

The latest sports documentaries from Netflix, quarterback, suggests that the position of QB is the most difficult position to hold in a team sport. The filmmakers could be right. But the story and drama packed into the role is so complicated that you have to reduce it to a TV show, at least for the first season, to miss the complications and details that make the role so difficult.

quarterback follows three QBs — Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Kirk Cousins ​​of the Minnesota Vikings, and Marcus Mariota of the Atlanta Falcons — as they make their way through the 2022 NFL season. But unlike Netflix’s biggest sports series Formula 1: Drive to Survive, the football-focused series struggles to bring out the human side of top athletes; We see them at home with their kids but never get an idea of ​​what that means for them on the pitch. The good news is that there are many ways to fix the problem quarterback and help it go from OK to Great.

Select other interesting players

Matches are won by putting the best players on the field. quarterback Season 1 doesn’t do that. While the biggest coup of the series was bringing in Mahomes, the Chiefs’ 27-year-old quarterback/prodigy, the rest of the cast pales in comparison. The aggressively good cousins ​​and Mariota, a player who lost his starting spot midway through last season, inevitably find themselves in Mahomes’ shadow. A second season of quarterback would benefit from a more interesting and successful lineup of QBs. Also just a bigger one. More players being followed by cameras would provide more opportunities for more woven storylines and faster edits. Here’s a suggestion: Get the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen on this show along with Mahomes so we can see their ongoing AFC shootout and rivalry. Or follow an exciting but volatile rookie like the Colts’ Anthony Richardson so we can follow him from the first days he steps onto the field.

Let’s tell a story about the game material

Image: Netflix

The NFL is known for protecting game assets, which makes it pretty exciting quarterback may use footage from the last season. Unfortunately, the show often uses it as a crutch for its episodic narratives, forcing disconnected games together and condensing them into montages rather than building up the natural tension the games create. A Doc like The last Dance is a great example of what’s possible when you get access. Don’t show us a game-winning touchdown drive with audio from the field; Let Cousins ​​or his coach meticulously explain how they pulled off the comeback and point out the details in the plays we may have missed.

Let the QBs cook

This point is closely related to the above, but the best moments in quarterback The production staff persuades one of the QBs to deal intensively with a game, a play or a decision. Quarterbacks aren’t always the most charismatic and insightful storytellers — as the show reveals, Cousins ​​has been interesting and emotional in public for exactly one time, and that too immediately became a meme – but they know football better than almost anyone else on the planet. When the players just talk sleazy football, they radiate. Hearing how different Kirk Cousins ​​and Patrick Mahomes approach comebacks, or listening to Marcus Mariota trying to get off track mid-game is exactly the kind of insight that separates the series from just one Being a big budget fancam.

Combining these interview segments with actual footage of the NFL game could result in sports analysis you can’t get in a panel show on ESPN, no matter how many former players are included. Watching moments like Mahomes delving deep into the tics or sharing what he notices while observing his opponents on film and how that helped him score a touchdown or win a game are insights that only one player can bid. Even if the QB cast is absent from Season 1, all of the subjects seem perfectly likeable and ready to deliver quarterback does it best. Patrick Mahomes isn’t himself driving a camera crew around; He’s himself when he breaks down defensive coverage or the intricacies of offensive play calls.

A greater focus on the games would also give the series more space away from the players’ private lives, which is a great color for the series but feels old and monotonous after just a few episodes.

Let the teammates shine

Image: Netflix

As anyone watching football might expect, quarterback actually involves some of his QB stars addressing their teammates. Receivers, tight ends, running backs, linemen, coaches, and coaches all receive major plaudits that make their lack of participation on the show a little confusing. Hearing Justin Jefferson talk about how he was able to help Cousins ​​or hearing Travis Kelce explain how Mahomes improvises would have deepened the explanation for this teams Winning games and the behind-the-scenes relationships that made it all possible.

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quarterback is currently in a complicated situation. Despite all of its issues, it’s still a pretty entertaining show, offering win-packed moments for fans who only superficially understand the 2022 season. It’s fascinating when Mahomes calls off a game-winning drive or sees Cousins ​​struggling with countless injuries when they tell it themselves. But such moments are currently the exception rather than the norm.

The good news is quarterback is also exactly where every NFL team desires a promising prospect: successful early on, despite its many failures, but with plenty of room to grow.