Lowering of the head to initiate contact
- Thread starter Elias
- Start date
Correct. The league is tightening up this rule, and we’re going to see defenders pull up from now on, instead of lowering the boom. These penalties will undoubtedly have a major impact on the outcomes of a few games this season. It’s garbage. They’re taking the physicality out of the game IMO.
It's another vaguely written rule that will be poorly enforced leading to more controversey. Especially with the new gambling legislation.
One more way for official to alter the outcome of games.
How can you tackle a RB below the waist without lowering the head.
One more way for official to alter the outcome of games.
How can you tackle a RB below the waist without lowering the head.
It actually may be a rule that saves the game At least for a while. Scott Adams (the Dilbert guy) predicts that football cannot last another 20 years, due to the head injury problem. That is, unless technology does not come up with a fix in the meantime.
The NFL has been around a long time, and the rules used to be almost non-existent when it came to tackling someone. I’m thinking Dick Butkus, Mean Joe Green, and Jack Lambert. Plenty of players played this style of football and survived just fine.
I acknowledge the importance of player safety and trying to reduce head injuries as much as reasonably possible. But transforming the game into touch football is too extreme. You have to allow some violence in the game. It’s tackle football.
I'm as old school as it gets, but I understand why the NFL is doing this, the survival of the sport is at stake, and thats not an overstatement. A lot of the great old players some of us remember and admire are dealing with serious ramifications today, especially in the area of brain injuries, and there are people out there who want to use this data to put an end to American football in general and the NFL in particular, not to mention over-protective mothers who are not letting their sons play football.
Do I like the softening of pro football?
Absolutely not, but I know what they are up against, they are literally fighting for their survival. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but long term.
As for the new rule, I spotted a real flaw that needs to be corrected last nite. Skrine went low specifically to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact, but instinctively when Skrine went in low, the return man lowered his head to and IMO thats what caused the helmet-to-helmet contact, yet Skrine was the one who was flagged because its more instinctive by the officials to blame the guy who is delivering the hit on that play than the guy who is absorbing the hit, but if you watch it closely, its the guy who was absorbing the hit who lowered his head second, thus causing the head-to-head collision, otherwise he would have been tackled at the waist or thereabouts. On that play the return man is the one who should have been flagged.
Do I like the softening of pro football?
Absolutely not, but I know what they are up against, they are literally fighting for their survival. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but long term.
As for the new rule, I spotted a real flaw that needs to be corrected last nite. Skrine went low specifically to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact, but instinctively when Skrine went in low, the return man lowered his head to and IMO thats what caused the helmet-to-helmet contact, yet Skrine was the one who was flagged because its more instinctive by the officials to blame the guy who is delivering the hit on that play than the guy who is absorbing the hit, but if you watch it closely, its the guy who was absorbing the hit who lowered his head second, thus causing the head-to-head collision, otherwise he would have been tackled at the waist or thereabouts. On that play the return man is the one who should have been flagged.
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The effort to eliminate plays like the one the other night, when Shamarko Thomas speared that receiver with his helmet, are understandable. Helmet-to-helmet contact penalties should be a personal foul, 15 yard penalty.
But what I witnessed in the Jets/Falcons game was mind boggling. I saw at least 3 calls that were excessive by the refs. This is going to create a tentative approach for defensive players. It’s going to result in missed tackles, and a big advantage to the offense. The CB’s are already tentative due to the rule changes in recent years where a CB will get flagged for sneezing on a receiver. I think too many changes are going to have a negative impact on the overall quality of the game.
But what I witnessed in the Jets/Falcons game was mind boggling. I saw at least 3 calls that were excessive by the refs. This is going to create a tentative approach for defensive players. It’s going to result in missed tackles, and a big advantage to the offense. The CB’s are already tentative due to the rule changes in recent years where a CB will get flagged for sneezing on a receiver. I think too many changes are going to have a negative impact on the overall quality of the game.
No doubt about it, but this stopped being the league I grew up with a long time ago. Its glorified arena league football now, only with higher quality elite players. I mean when Namath threw for 4,000 Yards in a season he was the first QB to do it, now if you don't throw for 4,000 Yards you are either a neophyte or mediocre to sucky. Heck, even in the 80's throwing for 4,000+ was still a big deal, now its ho-hum. Now the elite QB's are throwing for 5,000+ .... 4,000 is a disappointing season for the franchise QB's.
So I figure one more rule to make it less physical and easier for the offense is not a big deal at this point. We crossed that rubicon a long time ago.
I just want to see them apply the rule correctly. If a defender goes in low and the offensive player goes low second, he should be flagged, not the defender.
I really hate to say this, but they really need to have instant replay to look at this call. Like Green Jets & Ham said, " if a defender goes on low and the offensive player goes low second, the defender shouldn't be flagged"
Green Jets & Ham;n162969 said:
Well, you do have to account for the longer season now. How many games were in a season when Joe did it? Was it 11? 12? Today it's 16. Taking it to be 12, 4000 yards then would be equivalent to about 5300+ yards now. Even more if it was an 11 game season back then.
Whether you were the first one to go low or not, you are supposed to look at what you are tackling, which means not lowering your head.
I still think part of the problem is that your head is unavoidably at the front of your body and you have a bulky helmet on top of it. They should rethink the helmet to come up with something smaller, perhaps with the padding on the outside so it protects hittee as well as hitter. It would then be possible to have a smaller facemask which is harder to accidentally grab.
I still think part of the problem is that your head is unavoidably at the front of your body and you have a bulky helmet on top of it. They should rethink the helmet to come up with something smaller, perhaps with the padding on the outside so it protects hittee as well as hitter. It would then be possible to have a smaller facemask which is harder to accidentally grab.
This is the type of hit that gets guys paralyzed. It should have been taken out of the game years ago.
Honestly, the biggest problem is SportsCenter and other highlight shows. They don't show perfect form tackles. If they do show a tackle, it's usually a defender with his arms at his sides, launching himself head-first, often head down, into a ball carrier.
Players are coached from the first time they wear pads not to tackle with their heads down. It's hammered into players over and over again. Yet they still do it. Pros do it.
The biggest difference back then was, the helmets weren't nearly as good as they are now. It may seem counterintuitive, but these new helmets make a lot of defenders feel invincible, like a human missile. The old school guys didn't hit like that because they understood the risks.
Of course having better helmets is good for the game, and for the safety of the players. But if these guys think it allows them to go in head first, then it's a bad thing.
There are caps that some programs use for practice, a soft shell that goes over the helmet. Guardian caps, I believe, is one of the names used for them. It is designed to significantly cut down on head injuries occurring during practice contact.
Today's helmets may be even more dangerous than the old time leather headgear, since it encourages players to use the helmet as a weapon, while not really protecting the wearer from the dangers of head impact. Of course, it may be technically possible to improve helmets to the point where players are actually safer wearing them, even if they use them as weapons. Not the case with today's helmets though.
Exactly. I college you're taught to "Tackle what you see". If you're looking at a player, your head isn't down. Either they don't teach that anymore, or the players have to be reminded of it. It started when players started to block a guy down instead of wrapping him up, and is now rife throughout the league. That is NOT proper fundamentals.
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Agreed. That was a part of my point. Helmets have gotten so protective that players feel invincible. It's led to harder hits being led by the head.
I just witnessed an all new level of stupidity with these rule changes. A player on the Vikings got called for a roughing the passer penalty that was a clean tackle with no malice at all. No helmet to helmet.
If this is how it’s going to be, there are going to be a lot of angry fans this season watching their teams get screwed.
If this is how it’s going to be, there are going to be a lot of angry fans this season watching their teams get screwed.
Green Jets & Ham;n162966 said:
I saw that play the same way that you did, and therein lies the problem. There are going to be as many or more bad calls than good ones because the officials are not taking any chances of repercussions because they aren't enforcing the new rule. There's a big difference between lowering your head, because it's attached to your body to get into a tackling position as Skrine did, and using your helmet as a weapon. It's going to be difficult for the officials, at least in the beginning, and the players, to gauge the difference. To wrap up a runner by grabbing his legs your body has to go low and it should be no surprise to the officials if the head goes with it. The rule is just going to be problematic at least for awhile.
The rule as written is just bad. I said it before. This is going to just cause more controversey, especially with it not being reviewable.
it has been in place in the NCAA for years, is reviewable, yet 78% of the time, the ejections are overturned after the game. What's going to happen when a teams best safety , LB or DB gets ejected and the league announces on Tuesday that it was the wrong call? There is enough mistrust surrounding the league already, add in the gaming legislation and it will increase ten fold.
You can not tackle a RB, TE standing upright, you will get run over 100% of the time. Even a WR with a head of steam will consistently win damn near every time..
Even the Shamarko Thomas play that led to ejection and possibly the reason he was cut is very questionable. He was in the act of thakling, low when the receiver falls and the end result was helmet to helmet. It's unavoidable in the sport. Players are bigger and much faster today than a decade or 5 decades ago leading to more violent collisions. The league has 1 option, invest in better helmet technology or expand roster sizes so they can mandat any player in a head to head collision sit out a set ammount of time, be it a week or two as a precaution.
Violence is a part of the sport, probably it's most appealing aspect. Everyone loves the big hit. The pussification will be the death of the league. No one will watch flag football.
it has been in place in the NCAA for years, is reviewable, yet 78% of the time, the ejections are overturned after the game. What's going to happen when a teams best safety , LB or DB gets ejected and the league announces on Tuesday that it was the wrong call? There is enough mistrust surrounding the league already, add in the gaming legislation and it will increase ten fold.
You can not tackle a RB, TE standing upright, you will get run over 100% of the time. Even a WR with a head of steam will consistently win damn near every time..
Even the Shamarko Thomas play that led to ejection and possibly the reason he was cut is very questionable. He was in the act of thakling, low when the receiver falls and the end result was helmet to helmet. It's unavoidable in the sport. Players are bigger and much faster today than a decade or 5 decades ago leading to more violent collisions. The league has 1 option, invest in better helmet technology or expand roster sizes so they can mandat any player in a head to head collision sit out a set ammount of time, be it a week or two as a precaution.
Violence is a part of the sport, probably it's most appealing aspect. Everyone loves the big hit. The pussification will be the death of the league. No one will watch flag football.