Pass interference and roughing the passer: sucking the enjoyment out of the NFL

Human error. This is why people get pissed of at FIFA and the MLB sometimes, because the Commish won’t allow replay in certain discretion. I understand Human error is part of the game but sometimes it goes too far.

I would like it if penalties could be challenged by a neutral party not directly involved in the game. We have satellites, so send it to a neutral party with understandings of the rule 20 states away and send it back or something. The NFL would never do it though. They’ve had great strides in replay but they’ll never admit their refs are wrong or miss – calling plays.

So what are your least favorite rules?

The Tom Brady rule I hate with a passion. I can understand avoiding the head hits with the concussion issue bearing down on the NFL full steam.

I do not think one certain player deserves any special rule protecting a certain part of his body. Helmet to Helmet contact should not be used and I dont think any player should be allowed to “punch” the head. Offenses like Suh’s on Delhomme should be an ejection offense though. That kind of play in unnescessary and I believe it should not be done on any player ever.

Am I just being cranky or are these legitimate gripes?

I think technology has turned these items into legitimate grips. The more we see these these things replayed the more annoying it gets. Sports need to adapt with technology not reject it.

Is player safety really an issue here?

For head issues, I think yes. For the PI and Tom Brady rules no. The NFL is a bussiness and they need to make it exciting. Be honest, do you like watching the high scoring shootouts or the defensive games more. Id think atleast 3 out of 4 people will say the shootouts and thus the NFL makes rules to help games end up as shootouts.

Should the league be making/enforcing rules to make offense easier?

I dont think so, but as I stated above its a business. Lets compare two Browns games last year. The Detriot game last year recieved a 90s rating from Game Fans on NFL. The Bills game barely cracked 20. The NFL will contine to do what they want as long as we fill thier pockets.

i think they should make every call reviewable. having instant replay, but having some things unreviewable, is absurd. allow the coaches their 2 challenges per game, but allow them to challenge whatever they’d like.

The rule that really pisses me off is the “defenseless receiver”.

As long as a DB doesn’t go after a players head, what is the problem? Didn’t Ronnie Lott and Jack Tatum get inducted into the Hall of Fame for punishing WR’s that came across the middle?

Here is one in a college game that I found.

You hate on “Roughing the Passer” calls.

Alright I’m cool with that, I thought that penalty was BS too.

So basically defenders can hit the QB in baseballs strike zone? What a joke. If Tom Brady gets a hang nail they’ll invent a rule for that too-maybe right on the field. Every other player has the same set of rules. I understand protecting the QB, but do it in the same framework as other players.

I don’t like both the rules you have mentioned. There is the player safety concern with the quarterback rules, so that makes them a little more palatable. However, giving the quarterback special protection to this level is getting kind of disgusting. We have to remember that he is still a football player. Perhaps it would be better if the NFL changed the way it called holding or some such rule change instead of using just rules to protect the quarterback. Empower the offensive players, don’t constrain the defense unnecessarily.

The pass interference penalty has no excuse. It disgusts me what a defensive back has to do in this league. Should we have even bothered drafting a corner? Covering a receiver in this league is becoming more and more improbable every year. There are quarterbacks throwing for 300 yards every single week. I think the DBs are getting a raw deal here and should definitely be afforded every opportunity to make a play to knock the ball away, and moreover should be allowed to be more physical on the jam like they were before 2002-2003.

Giving the referees more and more judgment calls (especially the tom brady rule and the pass interference) is essentially putting them in the same position as basketball refs: they are trying to make a virtually impossible call at high speed from often a poor vantage. The calls are nearly impossible to make and the game suffers for it, because the referees have too much impact on the game. The game needs to be pure: where any time the ref goes to the flag it is for a relatively obvious violation of rules that can be called accurately at high speed. And calls that are very close (like boundary calls and fumble/no fumble) need to be subject to video review. The rules ought to be designed in such a way that the referee’s split second decisions are usually not difficult and even unmistakable, even if it means a slightly lower scoring game. Otherwise you might see the NFL bring on itself the worst quality that the NBA has to offer: the fact that you as a fan feel like the officials effected the outcome of the game as much as the participants.

Delhomme helmet tap = bad call.

Wright DPI = bad call.

NFL rules are ok as written on WRs, too soft on QBs.

NFL should realize they capitalize off of big hits and the physicality of the game, and pony up the money for adequate health care and pensions for their veterans instead of trying to limit the contact on “defenseless” players because Tom Brady had to sit out one year.

The pass interference rule is obviously bogus, if not intentionally cumbersome and humorous. In the olden days pass interference meant quite simply, physically preventing the receiver from catching the ball, you know hitting him before he has a chance to catch the ball. Intentional or unintentional was irrelevant.
But this was based on the cornerback being allowed to jam the wide receiver at the line of scrimmage, or more accurately the first 5 yards. Theoretically if the cornerback could tangle up the receiver in that space, the receiver would not be able to run his route. The consequence was however, that usually the cornerback would have to try to keep up with the receiver following him getting off the jam-attempt, which made interference from a position beyond the receiver less likely, if they reached in from the keeping up attitude, it was more likely to be seen as unsportsmanlike, because the two players had already been entangled.
Currently the receiver is seen to have the edge coming off the line of scrimmage, because the cornerback is not allowed to impede him, and usually running backwards because they must face the passer. Thus I assume the cover cornerback is given more leeway with interference as a consequence, a chance to regain the upper hand so to speak.
In reality, I think it is unsportsmanlike to keep and maintain a distance from the receiver from the get-go, which is the style basically currently. The cornerback is a much bigger danger, because of his ability to maintain enough distance to put the hurt on upon contact. Maybe that´s why they´re midget sized. The whole thing lends itself towards preventing short yardage passing and how shall I put it? Pretending to be fair on the middle to long range passes, WWF football is the result, they´ll give you some and prevent a few, depending on whether they like your style of offensive play in general.

The roughing the passer rule enforcement depends on whether you can sell not seeing the ball is gone, or pretending you cannot stop your momentum.

Roughing the Passer should be a judgment call. If it looks intentional (late hit, jerking the head by the face mask, dive at the knees, groin punch) throw a flag. But if the defender has his arms up to block a pass and barely touches the helmet, or if he’s on the ground and crawls to the QB’s feet, that shouldn’t be called.

I think they are making it easier for the offence. High scoring games sell to the average fan. I, for one, like the defensive battles that lead to a 13 – 10 game. They’re making it an offensive game. The defense should just stand around and wait for the offense to make a mistake. Straight up boring.

About the P.I. calls… CBs have 5 yards to make their contact which I feel is fair. But that Wright call was bad. Technically P.I., but it was overthrown. Ref mistake.

So what are your least favorite rules?

Not so much a “least favorite” as I hate the sporadic way it is enforced (or more often not). And that is holding. Yeah you can probably call it on every play if you want to get ridiculously technical, but there are a TON of flat out BLATANT holds that don’t get called in late season. If it’s important enough to call it in the preseason and the first few weeks of the year, call it all year long. PERIOD.

And I would have to agree that I’d like more consistent (and frequent) calling of illegal blocks in the back as well. But that might hurt the offensive production for some teams.

Am I just being cranky or are these legitimate gripes?

Yes… and yes. It’s a legitimate gripe. But you’re 20-30 years too late. These rules aren’t going away. The only chance you had for stopping this train was to complain about it a LONG time ago.

Is player safety really an issue here?

Actually, yes. Plenty of players have been hurt by low hits. The plant leg of the QB is especially vulnerable when he’s in the process of trying to throw the ball. They have all their weight on one leg and they are in the process of following through on a motion that uses muscles through probably 75% of their body. It’s not the same rule for other people because other people aren’t vulnerable in the same way. There is no plant leg on an offensive lineman, for example. Nor is there one for a WR under about 98% of normal circumstances (the exception being when they try to pivot away from an incoming tackler). These other players don’t face the same risk, so they don’t need the same protection.

Now the incidental blow to the head crap is just flat retarded. But helmet-to-helmet contact should be still called. Blame the Falcons for the emphasis here. As much as I hate the Stoolers, they were the victims of deliberate “head hunting” that was against the rules (and not kosher even if it had been legal), and they had a legitimate gripe in that game.

But the knees really should be protected. Sorry, but the other players don’t need the same protection because they don’t face the same circumstance. The QBs do need this. Plus, the Stoolers would have one less SB ring if they hadn’t taken out Carson’s knee. That alone would have made this rule worth all the other hassle for all the other teams in the league.

Should the league be making/enforcing rules to make offense easier?

Whether they should or not, it’s a 20+ year tradition by now and it’s not going to stop.

I think the point is, that they went from prohibitive, that is calling foul upon recognizance of a rules violation, to reglementing players´ movements and actions, that is convoluting admissable behavior. I always say, how can you be less wrong?

It´s the same stupification through an assumed increased intelligence, that we see in all aspects of society.