Unnecessary Roughness Penalties

[pbmax]

I saw the same call made in the New England game. Evidently it is not a "ticky tacky" call, it is the new rule. If you hit the QB ANYWHERE after the ball is released, it's roughing the passer.

Man, you can't hit the QB's helmet, which makes sense but is very hard to avoid when the point is to interview with passing.
Its an automatic penalty if you tackle in the lower legs.
And now a tackle to the midsection is "roughing" if the damn ball has left the QB's hand.

It's gotten ridiculous. The penalty is game changing, and the defenders are just doing what they have to. They can't know exactly when the ball will be released.

That is apparently not true, look at the hit that took Vick out in Atlanta. It was all post pass action.

[Harlan Huckleby]

maybe they are missing some legitimate calls, but penalizing a tackle to the midsection when the ball has just left the QB's hands is getting called all over.


They need to fix this.

[Deputy Nutz]

It is a total judgement call, just like holding, or pass interference. Roughing the passer could mean one step after the QB has released the ball, or 4 steps. Who knows? It could mean a forearm to the helmet or two fingers on the helmet.

[Pugger]

The defender shouldn't be in the air, according to the rules. But otherwise, I agree that meaningless contact that does not involve the head should be ignored.

I didn't mean literally in the air. If you are running full speed to sack the QB it is damn hard to stop yourself on a dime.

[Pugger]

I still cringe a little bit when I envision that head lock tackle on Ryan last night? How is that not a penalty??

[pbmax]

I didn't mean literally in the air. If you are running full speed to sack the QB it is damn hard to stop yourself on a dime.

D lineman got used to the 2 step rule back in the 90s. You just have to slide off. Or take the hit full speed and hope for the best.

[pbmax]

I still cringe a little bit when I envision that head lock tackle on Ryan last night? How is that not a penalty??

Unsure, but when a QB runs to escape the pocket, rules do change. Even better question is how the refs blew that intentional grounding call when he was out of the tackle box.

[Pugger]

Unsure, but when a QB runs to escape the pocket, rules do change. Even better question is how the refs blew that intentional grounding call when he was out of the tackle box.

Yeah, those refs didn't have a stellar night did they?

[pbmax]

Yeah, those refs didn't have a stellar night did they?

Nope. And I understand the new reception rules are designed to make it easier on the refs. The entire point of that stupid rule is to make the determination easy on the ref on the field. That I can understand.

But they carry the logic of the rule to ridiculous lengths. I suppose I will get used to it if they maintain uniformity.

[Guiness]

To me, this is a cut & dried call. He was head hunting. Lead with his helmet, no use of the arms to even attempt to tackle. McClain was almost upright, it's not like he was lowering his head towards the contact. At full speed, I initially thought Duante left his feet (also illegal) although the replay shows he did not. I thought you could also hear the 'click' of the helmet making contact quite clearly. A shot to the chin like that, jarring your teeth, is a surefire route to a concussion.

Anyone know the answer to Smuggler's question? Is helmet to helmet legal on a runner?

[Guiness]

I didn't mean literally in the air. If you are running full speed to sack the QB it is damn hard to stop yourself on a dime.

damn hard...but they've had that rule wrt punters for ages, and players seem to be able to conform with it. And Duante was pretty darn close to airborne.

[Joemailman]

damn hard...but they've had that rule wrt punters for ages, and players seem to be able to conform with it. And Duante was pretty darn close to airborne.

The result being that a blocked punt is an extreme rarity (About one of every 200). Do you want to see the same thing with sacking the QB? I'm all for penalizing the helmet hits and the low (below the knees) hits on Qb's, but the hit by Bishop yesterday is no more likely to cause an injury than a lot of tackles made in a game.

[Guiness]

The result being that a blocked punt is an extreme rarity (About one of every 200). Do you want to see the same thing with sacking the QB? I'm all for penalizing the helmet hits and the low (below the knees) hits on Qb's, but the hit by Bishop yesterday is no more likely to cause an injury than a lot of tackles made in a game.

Fair point - sacks could become nearly that rare if they instituted the same rules.

[Deputy Nutz]

Have they implemented any rules on equipment standards? It would make sense before changing the entire play of the game that players should be required to wear a mouth guard, have double snapped chinstraps that are always fully snapped, and proper padding.

[smuggler]

This article from last season implies that a helmet-to-helmet hit on a runner is legal. However, leaving your feet is definitely a penalty. http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/blogs...105720798.html