The Frankish Reich Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 I used to much prefer the NFL "down by contact" rule. What could be more exciting than a player stumbling and falling, streaking defender blowing past him and missing him, and the player getting up like a zombie and running it into the end zone? But it's time to move on. In this age of (alleged) concussion syndrome awareness, in this age of QBs "giving up" and going into slides and then getting hammered while lying on the ground ... it seems the most obvious rule change to make for player protection. And in this age of ridiculous crowd noise pumped up by huge scoreboards exhorting fans to MAKE SOME NOISE, do we really want to base player safety considerations on whether everyone heard the whistle? O'Leary last night was ridiculous. Everyone around him seemed to assume the play had been blown dead. He gets off the ground looking like he's going to toss the ball to the ref. And then ... did the ref wave him off? He gets up and hesitantly starts to run, and just as hesitantly tries to tuck the ball away. The Jets defenders notice what's going on and go straight into ball stripping mode. And a fine catch is turned into a disastrous outcome. So was this thrilling? Or just kind of stupid? I've disliked the college "down is down, whether by contact or not" rule for a long time. But it's time for the NFL to move on. In 2017, we're seeing too many injuries and absurd outcomes from the old rule. Quick whistles prevent injuries.
row_33 Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 You gotta make contact to have the play end with the big boys Play to the whistle, you should know this by Pop Warner
JohnBonhamRocks Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 I think it's a fine rule and our player should have had better situational awareness. Gotta touch the guy down. Gotta play until you hear a whistle.
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Im confused as to why both defenders didnt touch him while he was down.
Blokestradamus Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Time to hold on to the ball. You know the rules.
Elite Poster Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Everyone's hero O'Leary has an awful fumble and now we need to change a rule lol
LeGOATski Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 There have not been any injury trends as a result of this rule. It was just a bad play by O'Leary.
The Frankish Reich Posted November 3, 2017 Author Posted November 3, 2017 Im confused as to why both defenders didnt touch him while he was down. Because literally everyone except the ref thought the play was dead. Everyone's hero O'Leary has an awful fumble and now we need to change a rule lol And because Joe Flacco was knocked out on a play that would've been blown dead in college. And because before too long that will happen to another QB, maybe even Tyrod.
Johnny Hammersticks Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Yeah, purely a mistake by O'Leary. Happens, unfortunately.
The Frankish Reich Posted November 3, 2017 Author Posted November 3, 2017 I think it's a fine rule and our player should have had better situational awareness. Gotta touch the guy down. Gotta play until you hear a whistle. Which results in a lot of late hits because a player "didn't hear a whistle" or because a player claims (quite plausibly; plausible deniability it's called) that he didn't hear a whistle.
billsfan89 Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 (edited) That O'Leary fumble pretty much crushed any hope of a comeback. Down 24-7 late in the third you get some light and momentum trimming it to 24-14 if you can score on that drive. That being said I would now more than ever consider a chance to the college rule. More so because of the QB rules. QB's are so over protected that defenders are afraid of them but the down by contact rule kind of allows QB's to take advantage of their over protected status. That being said O'Leary made a bad play, just own up to it. Edited November 3, 2017 by billsfan89
row_33 Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Everyone's hero O'Leary has an awful fumble and now we need to change a rule lol comes from 17 years of this, and if this collapses it will be a painful 18th.. That O'Leary fumble pretty much crushed any hope of a comeback. Down 24-7 late in the third you get some light and momentum trimming it to 24-14 if you can score on that drive. That being said I would now more than ever consider a chance to the college rule. More so because of the QB rules. QB's are so over protected that defenders are afraid of them but the down by contact rule kind of allows QB's to take advantage of their over protected status. That being said O'Leary made a bad play, just own up to it. There was no hope till the Jets went to triple-garbagetime prevent and let TT hopscotch down the field on his own sweet and precious time.
The Frankish Reich Posted November 3, 2017 Author Posted November 3, 2017 That O'Leary fumble pretty much crushed any hope of a comeback. Down 24-7 late in the third you get some light and momentum trimming it to 24-14 if you can score on that drive. That being said I would now more than ever consider a chance to the college rule. More so because of the QB rules. QB's are so over protected that defenders are afraid of them but the down by contact rule kind of allows QB's to take advantage of their over protected status. That being said O'Leary made a bad play, just own up to it. True. QBs will slide, defenders will blow past them, they'll get up and try to run. All of which gives defenders an excuse for unnecessarily rough hits. All of which is bad for the game.
26CornerBlitz Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Situational awareness is what was called for.
The Frankish Reich Posted November 3, 2017 Author Posted November 3, 2017 comes from 17 years of this, and if this collapses it will be a painful 18th.. There was no hope till the Jets went to triple-garbagetime prevent and let TT hopscotch down the field on his own sweet and precious time. O'Leary is just an example. This is what happens when a rule starts to result in more bad outcomes - bad from the standpoint of providing an entertaining product (NFL ratings are way down in case you haven't heard), and bad from a standpoint of resulting in marquee players being knocked out of action - than good outcomes. I think we've passed that point here. The thrill of a player getting up and running for daylight is now outweighed by the unfortunate ("late" hits knocking players out) and absurd (O'Leary getting stripped) results.
LABILLBACKER Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Johnson drops easy pick cost us points. Matthews fumble cost us points. O'Leary fumble cost us points. The oline and dline calling in sick. Every penalty on us. It's like we didn't even practice all week. Big setback to the culture process.
Doc Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 The game was over then Thornton needlessly facemasked McCown early in the 3rd. NO's fumble was just a "figures!"
skibum Posted November 3, 2017 Posted November 3, 2017 Yes, lets instate a lame college rule because someone from our favorite football team fumbled in a blowout loss. Come on, everyone loves the "he didn't know he wasn't down" play - it adds a little random excitement into the mix. It's also fun when the defender thinks the ball carrier is down, so he gives up on the play and the dude takes off. It makes the game more interesting now and then, and it doesn't happen often enough to be a problem. The Bills had their pants down in so many situations last night. Let's not change the rules to aid and abet poor play.
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