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

Netflix’s newest sports docuseries, QuarterbackAccording to, playing QB in a sport team is one of the toughest positions anyone could play. They might have a point. The position and its history are so complex that reducing it to a television show would mean missing out on the details and complications that make this position so challenging, especially in the first year.

Quarterback follows three QBs — the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, the Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins, and the Atlanta Falcons’ Marcus Mariota — as they progress through the 2022 NFL season. But unlike Netflix’s biggest sports series, Formula 1: Driving to SurviveThe football-focused show struggles to reveal the humanity of elite athletes. We see them with their children, but we never understand what it means for them out on the field. It’s good to know that you can fix it. Quarterback Help it to go from good to great.

Choose more exciting players

The best players on the field are the ones who win the games. Quarterback season 1 doesn’t do that. While the show’s main coup was landing Mahomes, the 27-year-old Chiefs quarterback/prodigy, the rest of the cast pales in comparison. The aggressively fine Cousins and Mariota, a player who lost his starting job midway through last season, are inevitably lost in Mahomes’ shadow. The second season of QuarterbackIt would help to have a cast of QBs that is more exciting and successful. Just a larger one would do. It would allow for faster editing and more complex storylines if there were more cameras following players. Here’s one suggestion: Get the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen on this show along with Mahomes so we can see their continuing AFC shootout and rivalry. You could also follow a volatile but exciting rookie, like Anthony Richardson with the Colts. This way we could follow him right from his first steps onto the field.

In-game footage can tell a tale

Image: Netflix

It’s pretty amazing that the NFL protects game footage. Quarterback Gets to use footage of last season. Unfortunately, it is often used as crutch by the show to construct its episodic stories, forcing unrelated games together and compressing them into montages rather than building the natural tension created by the games. A doc like Last Dance is a great example of what’s possible when given access. Don’t show us a game-winning touchdown drive with audio from the field; let Cousins or his coach meticulously walk us through how they made the comeback happen and point out the details in the plays we might have missed.

Cooking is not the job of QBs

The best moments are closely related to those mentioned above. Quarterback Production staff will often coax one QB into going deep about a specific game, decision, or play. Quarterbacks aren’t always the most charismatic, insightful storytellers — as the show points out, Cousins has been interesting and emotional exactly once in public and it instantly became a meme — but they do know football better than almost anyone on the planet. They light up when the players talk about down-and dirty football. When Marcus Mariota is trying to break out of his rut, or Kirk Cousins talks about the difference between how he and Patrick Mahomes tackle comebacks in a game, it’s a great insight.

Combining those interview segments with the actual NFL game footage could result in sports analysis you can’t get from a panel show on ESPN, no matter how many former players they include. Mahomes describing the tics and tells that he observes when watching opponents, as well as how this helped him to score a goal or win a match, are moments only an actual player can offer. The QB line-up in Season 1 may be lacking but all of the players seem to be personable, and are ready to give their best. Quarterback does best. Patrick Mahomes isn’t himself when he’s driving a camera crew around; he’s himself when he’s breaking down defensive coverages or talking about the intricacies of offensive play calling.

Focusing more on the games would also allow the show more room away from the players’ personal lives, which are great color for the series, but feel old and repetitive just a few episodes in.

The team should shine

Image: Netflix

Anyone who follows football will know what to expect. Quarterback The QBs are often heard praising the teammates. The absence of receivers, tight ends and running backs from the show is a bit confusing. It would have been more interesting to hear Justin Jefferson explain that he helped Cousins by running a route, or Travis Kelce describe how Mahomes plays. The team that you are looking for?How to win at games, and the relationships that made them possible.

Quarterback It’s a complex situation. For all its issues, it’s still a pretty entertaining show that has moments of big payoff for fans who only understand the 2022 season on a surface level. It’s interesting to hear Mahomes describe a game-winning play or Cousins struggle through multiple injuries. The exceptions are not as common right now.

Good news! Quarterback It is exactly what any NFL team wants for a young prospect: a successful start, with many errors, and plenty of room to improve.