Nearly a dozen times while watching an NFL game today, fans and coaches will likely remark on how different the sport is today. While the sport of football still structurally remains the same but through several rule changes, as well as the general passage of time, the NFL has changed a lot over the last few decades.

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However, that's not to say that everything about the football league has changed. While there's been several rule changes, and even new teams, the game at its core still is mostly the same. For fans who haven't actively kept up on football, there are some things they might not know about the current product.

10 Same: Still Hard To Find a Quarterback

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Old-school fans and analysts commonly malign the changes to offense in the NFL. Many believe that it is easier today, mostly due to rule changes to make the game safer, to get down the field and score than it used to be.

While that's partially correct, the criticism isn't entirely true. If it were easy for everyone to get an excellent quarterback and dominate on offense, everyone would do it. Instead, there are only a handful of teams who get consistently excellent passing week in and week out.

9 Changed: More Offensive-Oriented

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Well, old-school fans and analysts are partially correct when discussing how easier it is for offenses today. While that doesn't mean every NFL team will have an easy time, it's still easier on average for offenses today than it used to be in the 90s.

To the NFL's credit, it's not entirely their fault that it's easier for offenses these days. Most of the reason for the offensive explosion over the last two decades is thanks to rule changes to allow for fewer collisions involving players.

8 Same: Injuries Still Happen

Despite all the rule changes in the world, injuries still happen today. Despite what the NFL will try, and no matter what safety precautions they take, injuries and freak accidents will happen for as long as the sport of football has contact.

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Recently, Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin recently nearly died on the field after making a routine tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals. The tackle wasn't a big deal, but he still nearly died. That's just the way the sport is, sadly.

7 Changed: Lack of Fullbacks

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The NFL's offensive explosion has mostly come through the air. Quarterbacks such as Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are quickly setting records through the air in the modern era. While offenses have been steadily getting better, not everyone has benefited.

In fact, an entire position, the fullback, has practically been erased in the modern NFL. Seeing as how fewer teams run the ball, teams can just use their tight end if necessary. Roughly half the league doesn't even have a fullback on the roster.

6 Same: Defense Still Important

While offenses are arguably more important than ever in today's NFL, they're not the only way to win a game. In fact, when it comes to the postseason, it's arguably better to have a better defense than offense. Over the last few years, teams such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won the Super Bowl thanks to their defense.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes, have only won one Super Bowl despite being contenders year in and out. The thing all those teams had in common? A lack of defense, because those are still mandatory to win a championship.

5 Changed: Different Divisions

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The passage of time can make a lot of things feel incredibly normal. For example, most fans today likely don't even know that the league used to look entirely different, with divisions and conferences looking very weird.

Up until 2002, there were only three divisions per conference, with teams such as the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being divisional rivals. Furthermore, teams such as the Seattle Seahawks left their own conference, the AFC, to head to the NFC west when the league did realignment.

4 Changed: No More Pro Bowl

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The NFL's love/hate relationship with the Pro Bowl continues to this day. Over the last couple of decades, the league has experimented with the All-Star game. At one time, the game featured guest coaches, such as Deion Sanders.

However, after 2016, the league went back to having the traditional AFC vs. NFC games, which were panned as uninteresting and bland. Last year, the league made the decision to do away with the game completely, and replace it with skill competitions and a flag-football game.

3 Same: Overtime Rules

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Despite years of complaining, possible voting on rule changes, and controversy in close games, the NFL is yet to pull the trigger on overtime changes. Over the last few years, the overtime rules have become extremely controversial, as fans want changes badly.

The biggest issue is that both teams don't get the ball in the regular season overtime rules. In an offensive-oriented league, it doesn't feel right that only one team has to play defense.

2 Changed: Different Playoffs

On the bright side, the NFL recently changed the overtime rules for the postseason. This year's playoffs will feature both teams getting the ball on offense at least once. The change comes after 2022's divisional playoff game with the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs ended after one overtime drive due to a touchdown from Travis Kelce.

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However, that isn't the only playoff change. These days, the NFL has seven playoff teams, and the two seed no longer gets a bye week. With that in mind, the first seed is more important than ever.

1 Same: Quarterback-Dominated League

While older fans might complain about easy it is for offenses today, there is one thing that hasn't changed since the NFL has been around. It's a quarterback-dominated league. The ability of your starting passer will determine how far you go.

Along with that, quarterbacks still always get the attention. While some fans might long for the days of dominating defenses, they didn't get attention back then either. When offenses were at their worst, passers still got all the glory, and nothing will change that.