I don't watch the talk shows. They just keep talking about it, then the half time show comes and yet again here it is again.
The NFL is like watching a bunch of commercials. National anthem, commercial, kick off, commercial, first drive, commercial. Punt, commercial, second drive, rinse and repeat.
It's watered down not because of the things you mentioned, that was needed. It's watered down because instead of Sunday being football day it's spread out. There is no excitement anymore. Because there are only 3 days now where you can turn your tv on and not see an NFL game.