BADOLBILZ Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 13 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22935229/nfl-institutes-rule-lowering-head-initiate-contact-helmet IMO this is even bigger than the catch rule coming out of the owners meetings. Big move, and I like it. Finally getting serious about enforcing proper tackling technique. AND it applies for offensive players too. No more helmets as weapons. Keep your heads up, fellas Definitely a huge move. Drastically changes tackling because defenders even have to be careful about using the shoulders now.......which doubly lessens the violence of blows. It may tactically/strategically change the game significantly too. Tackling may be more strenuous......defenses may tire sooner.......teams may need an imbalance of depth on defense going forward..........which could work out fine because offensive players should be able to handle more snaps due to the lessened violence. Could extend the shelf life and usage of top RB's...........should increase offense...........should further expose defenders who aren't giving full effort...........I really like it and this has been coming for years. Defenses will catch up in time.........the Seahawks *mostly* play this style of football already(though their methods when at their best still included plenty of helmet hits). 2 1
row_33 Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, Green Lightning said: How the Hell do you tackle without lowering your head? this will be unfairly and inconsistently applied from the first second, as it always is... and Collinsworth will scream "THERE YOU GO, YOU CAN"T DO THAT, GOOD FOR THE NFL FOR CALLING THAT, THEY CALL THAT EVERY TIME!!!!" and when it clearly happens on the next 3 plays and it's isn't called nothing will be said. Edited March 28, 2018 by row_33
jrober38 Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 15 hours ago, Green Lightning said: How the Hell do you tackle without lowering your head? With your shoulder. The NFL has a huge problem on their hands with head injuries. They know they have to do something drastic to help the long term health of the league.
Saxum Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 The issue will be retraining time and the NFLPA's insistence on lowering contact in practice. You cannot learn proper tackling techniques without contact.
Green Lightning Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 1 hour ago, jrober38 said: With your shoulder. The NFL has a huge problem on their hands with head injuries. They know they have to do something drastic to help the long term health of the league. I get that, I just don't trust the refs making judgement calls. Anytime you put your shoulder down your head's going to go with it. I'm just looking at at already bad refs making more bad calls, that's all.
klos63 Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 8 hours ago, Blokestradamus said: This is the sort of play that I'm curious about. If I'm a QB, no way in hell that I'm going into that pile vertically. But is the QB leading with his head to 'initiate' contact? That's certainly not the intention of a QB sneak.
billsfan_34 Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 Finally going to reinforce what used to be called spearing. It is about time!!! 17 hours ago, Mr. WEO said: So....does this include mushroom stamping? Don’t forget “tea bagging” as well.
Buffalo Boy Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 18 hours ago, Green Lightning said: How the Hell do you tackle without lowering your head? How do you run between the tackle without lowering your head? How do you QB sneak without lowering your head? This should be fun?
klos63 Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Buffalo Boy said: How do you run between the tackle without lowering your head? How do you QB sneak without lowering your head? This should be fun? the QB won't be trying to slam his helmet into a linebacker, I would think that making contact isn't the issue, initiating contact by lowering your head and slamming it into the opponent is the issue. Rarely did Shady lead with his head going to the line. This is primarily for defense I would think. Edited March 28, 2018 by klos63 1
PolishDave Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 19 hours ago, Green Lightning said: I can see a 15-yard penalty on just about every play. A guy drops his head to make a shoulder contact and it could be interpreted a million different ways. This is just "this year's" rule to pave the way for another Patriots Superbowl appearance. Rule will be interpreted in their favor when it matters.
Buffalo Boy Posted March 29, 2018 Posted March 29, 2018 14 hours ago, klos63 said: the QB won't be trying to slam his helmet into a linebacker, I would think that making contact isn't the issue, initiating contact by lowering your head and slamming it into the opponent is the issue. Rarely did Shady lead with his head going to the line. This is primarily for defense I would think. Have you ever watched Cam Newton move a pile , head first? What happens if we draft a bruiser of a short yardage back??? Shady won’t always be here. The point is, they are trying to make the refs diagnose every contact and every tackle and decide what is legal and what isn’t. Runningback And Linebacker meet in the hole, face up. Face masks clash hard. That’s helmet to helmet. Where is the line?
Kmart128 Posted March 29, 2018 Posted March 29, 2018 Great..football is gonna be almost unwatchable with 15 yard penalties every freaking play... Is there even any stats that suggest that these new rules are being effective. Id like to compare the amount of concussions last year to 10 years ago.
Big Turk Posted March 29, 2018 Posted March 29, 2018 In theory it sounds good but in practice I'm going to guess its called on defensive players 90% of the time.
Mr. WEO Posted March 29, 2018 Posted March 29, 2018 15 hours ago, billsfan_34 said: Finally going to reinforce what used to be called spearing. It is about time!!! Don’t forget “tea bagging” as well. The "Manning Rule" 15 hours ago, Buffalo Boy said: How do you run between the tackle without lowering your head? How do you QB sneak without lowering your head? This should be fun? People are struggling with this rule..and I don't know why? It says that a player can't lower his head to make initial contact with his helmet. So, why would it be called on "95%" of defensive plays?
D. L. Hot-Flamethrower Posted March 29, 2018 Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) Not sure when it happened, but the form tackle changed at sometime in the last 3-4 decades and this caused the problem. I played a lot of ball when I was younger, and I remember being taught to break down, square up, and put your shoulder right on the guys belly button, wrap up and drive to the ground. The key to this is you have the eyes up and your helmet doesn't initiate the contact....the shoulder does. My right shoulder is noticeably lower than my left to this day...a different problem. I remember some years back seeing a clinic about proper technique, and they were teaching them to put their helmet into the sternum. Obviously this is an evolution of vicious hitting and it's aimed at hurting more. This also puts the tackler at increased risk IMO. If this rule takes some time but ends up with a return to the older way, I'm all for it. Edited March 29, 2018 by horned dogs
klos63 Posted March 29, 2018 Posted March 29, 2018 2 hours ago, Buffalo Boy said: Have you ever watched Cam Newton move a pile , head first? What happens if we draft a bruiser of a short yardage back??? Shady won’t always be here. The point is, they are trying to make the refs diagnose every contact and every tackle and decide what is legal and what isn’t. Runningback And Linebacker meet in the hole, face up. Face masks clash hard. That’s helmet to helmet. Where is the line? Cam will have to stop using his head as a missile- that's the point of the rule. Safety. I understand this sounds like it could be a major hassle for the refs, but I don't see that it will be that bad. I think the main players affected are the DB's that fly into players head first, it's always been scary to watch. Many of the head first hits are cheap shots and unnecessary. I think this is a positive move for the NFL. 1
DrDawkinstein Posted March 29, 2018 Author Posted March 29, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, klos63 said: Cam will have to stop using his head as a missile- that's the point of the rule. Safety. I understand this sounds like it could be a major hassle for the refs, but I don't see that it will be that bad. I think the main players affected are the DB's that fly into players head first, it's always been scary to watch. Many of the head first hits are cheap shots and unnecessary. I think this is a positive move for the NFL. I doubt it's going to apply to those low-speed plays like a QB sneak. We'll have to see when they publish the clarification of the rule next month, but I'm guessing this will focus on the "weaponization" of the helmet, versus the "no one is allowed to look down ever again" extreme that whiny, lazy players and fans are afraid of. And to address BuffaloBoy's concern... Two layers meeting with their heads up, facemask to facemask, are VERY unlikely to hit directly on. They will naturally go to a side. That is the point of not only this rule, but of proper tackling form in general. It naturally prevents such collisions from occurring. And even if they do, the physiology behind contact like that is much less likely to produce an injury. Edited March 29, 2018 by DrDawkinstein 1
hondo in seattle Posted March 29, 2018 Posted March 29, 2018 On 3/27/2018 at 7:18 PM, Green Lightning said: How the Hell do you tackle without lowering your head? Back in the day, I was taught to keep my eyes on the ball carrier (face up) and drive one shoulder or the other into the player while simultaneously wrapping him up with my arms. This technique is both relatively safe and effective.
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