It will be interesting how teams teach tackling technique to still be effective but not get penalized.
It will be interesting how teams teach tackling technique to still be effective but not get penalized.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
That's just it.
First of all, it's so difficult to define precisely that a lot of the times it is called, a replay will show that it was in fact a legal tackle. It's such a controversial topic, every time it gets flagged, the TV broadcast will show slow-motion replays, and if the call was wrong, explain in detail how the refs got it wrong yet again. And it's probably going to be similar to pass interference in the sense that in a lot of cases, if the play is not flagged, the defense gets a third down stop and forces a punt - but the penalty makes it a first down.
Or a tackle that should have been flagged under the new rule isn't whistled down, and a drive that (under the rule) should have been stopped gets a fresh set of downs and stays alive because the refs were inconsistent.
How many times does that have to happen before the fans become outraged again over the "poor officiating", and start complaining that the games are rigged?
This is a rule that appears to be very subjective in interpretaion, but at the same time very consequential for the teams. I don't envy the officials at all, because they're going to be put into a very, very bad position. There are already way too many rules that are difficult to get right in real time and easy to make the wrong call on. They're going to take a lot of heat on this, esspecially the first few weeks of the season.
There's no clear line between a legal tackle and an illegal tackle. There will be times it's really fucking obvious. Then there will be all the debatable situations.
Pass interference is even easier to spot sitting at on the coach watching a replay. How many times is that called wrong?
Given it wasn’t really a type of tackle since the last few years it seems kinda easy. You bear hug, jump and in the air use your body weight to bring the defender down.
As it wasn’t used much before the other rule changes (to the head/neck or lower leg) - I get the issue of ‘old man yelling at grass’. And as a guy who played defense - it sucks.
But it’s like once/game and lead to one injury a week.
It would have to be a pretty long video. I think whether a tackle is a hp drop tackle has a more specific definition.
ARTICLE 1. DEFINITION
It is pass interference by either team when any act by a player more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage significantly hinders an eligible player’s opportunity to catch the ball
ARTICLE 2. PROHIBITED ACTS BY BOTH TEAMS WHILE THE BALL IS IN THE AIR
Acts that are pass interference include, but are not limited to:
Contact by a player who is not playing the ball that restricts the opponent’s opportunity to make the catch;
Playing through the back of an opponent in an attempt to make a play on the ball;
Grabbing an opponent’s arm(s) in such a manner that restricts his opportunity to catch a pass;
Extending an arm across the body of an opponent, thus restricting his ability to catch a pass, and regardless of whether the player committing such act is playing the ball;
Cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact with him, without playing the ball;
Hooking an opponent in an attempt to get to the ball in such a manner that it causes the opponent’s body to turn prior to the ball arriving; or
Initiating contact with an opponent by shoving or pushing off, thus creating separation.
Note: If there is any question whether player contact is incidental, the ruling should be no interference.
ARTICLE 3. PERMISSIBLE ACTS BY BOTH TEAMS WHILE THE BALL IS IN THE AIR
Acts that are permissible by a player include, but are not limited to:
Incidental contact by an opponent’s hands, arms, or body when both players are competing for the ball, or neither player is looking for the ball. If there is any question whether contact is incidental, the ruling shall be no interference.
Inadvertent tangling of feet when both players are playing the ball or neither player is playing the ball.
Contact that would normally be considered pass interference, but the pass is clearly uncatchable by the involved players, except as specified in 8-3-2 and 8-5-4 pertaining to blocking downfield by the offense.
Laying a hand on an opponent that does not restrict him in an attempt to make a play on the ball.
Contact by a player who has gained position on an opponent in an attempt to catch the ball.
Notes:
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen