I thought this was already a penalty (ballcarrier can't lower their head) but it isn't enforced.if ballcarriers get to do it with no penalty.
I thought this was already a penalty (ballcarrier can't lower their head) but it isn't enforced.if ballcarriers get to do it with no penalty.
It’ll be a one year spike as there will be public outrage when a New England DB recovers an incomplete pass near the goal line at a crucial moment.How many more "catch" and fumbles are we likely to see?
If you really want to see people’s heads explode, have a Dez Bryant catch (for team playing the Pats) just short of the goal line, and he fumbles out of the end zone. Touchback Patriots ball. In the same game, have a Dez Bryant catch by Patriot, but happen past the goal line so it’s a TD.It’ll be a one year spike as there will be public outrage when a New England DB recovers an incomplete pass near the goal line at a crucial moment.
God do I hope this happens. I will get a month’s laughter from the outrage.If you really want to see people’s heads explode, have a Dez Bryant catch (for team playing the Pats) just short of the goal line, and he fumbles out of the end zone. Touchback Patriots ball. In the same game, have a Dez Bryant catch by Patriot, but happen past the goal line so it’s a TD.
Injury rates on NFL kickoffs remain so high that the league's competition committee will give a mandate: Make the play safer, or it will recommend its elimination in the near future.
I've been thinking about that rule and it's going to be hard to write it so that you can drop your shoulder to make contact but not your head. We'll have to see what the final language is. My guess is it will mostly apply to ball carriers in space trying to run through DBs. It's the NFL though, so who knows.Apparently a lot of NFL players are upset with the new "lowering of the head" rule.
Kelley believes, and has data to back it up, that the “opportunity to create a turnover” via an onside kick is greater than the loss of field position from a failed kick. There’s more. His teams also never (or almost never) punt because the chance to run four downs worth of plays is seen as more valuable than field position (especially with high school punters). Pulaski also receives kicks with unusual formations, creating space and limiting penalties and injuries. It blitzes often because “sacks change the game” more than allowing a first down.
It goes on and on. Kelley is a famed outlier in a game known for its aversion to risk. It’s enough that Bill Belichick once brought Kelley to Foxborough for a week to talk football.
The downside of failing to recover is the opponent is given better field position, but Kelley’s numbers show field position is an overrated variable, especially when considering most failed onside kicks wind up in the mid-field area.
“You win games by winning the turnover value, not field position,” Kelley said.
Hard to predict given there are multiple moving parts in the rumored proposal, according to Peter King:Wouldn't this favor kick returners like the newly minted Patriot Cordarelle Patterson?
No running start for the kicking team helps, but no more wedges and only 2 blockers deep downfield should make things tougher for the return man. Add in no hitting in the 15-yard-zone, and there's a possible greater potential for streaking kick coverage guys to put a big hit on the returner.The final draft of the rule change is still being written but modifications are expected to include no running start for the kicking team; no more wedges; three players deep downfield, at most, on the return team, and at least eight players within 15 yards of where the ball is kicked; no hitting in the 15-yard zone between where the ball is kicked and the front line of the return team; and no motion by the kicking team until the ball is kicked.
Interesting. Let's say the average starting position for a team after a regular kickoff is the 25 yard line. 1st and 10 from the 25 is about 0.7 expected points. Let's say that the average starting position after recovering an onside kick (for the receiving team) is about the kicking team's 45. 1st and 10 from the opponent's 45 is about 2.1 expected points. So every failed onside kick improves the opposing team's expected point value by 1.4 points.Some more discussion of the possible elimination of the kick off, from a high school coach that Belichick invited up to Foxboro for a week to discuss his strategies (no punts, all onside kicks, etc.)
https://sports.yahoo.com/americas-daring-high-school-coach-thoughts-banning-kickoffs-wrong-nfl-225337708.html
That's the theory....look at the little video embedded in the second tweet. There's going to be A LOT of room for him to get going.@DrewDawg I was thinking about that last night while reading it too. Patterson's return numbers suggest he is potentially elite there. We know he has elite speed. Eliminate the running start and doesn't he have more of an advantage?
There are going to be some interesting quirks for a bit till everyone figures it out.Wonder if teams will look to just pop the ball 20-25 yards down field over the wall of the return team knowing the return team cant engage the coverage team, as like a chip onside kick.
There's going to be 2 guys beyond the first 8 that can no longer wedge block so I imagine some teams will go for handsy guys there.Wonder if teams will look to just pop the ball 20-25 yards down field over the wall of the return team knowing the return team cant engage the coverage team, as like a chip onside kick.
And no blocking until the ball hits the ground will be very interesting if someone can do a short lofted kick, but thinking this through it seems that would just be fair caught.Onsides kicks are gonna be a hoot. No more than five per side.
Which is the idea BB is probably thinking about - landing kickoffs on the 5 yard line every time that result in fair catches, or a tackle at the 10 with a chance for a fumble.And no blocking until the ball hits the ground will be very interesting if someone can do a short lofted kick, but thinking this through it seems that would just be fair caught.
Mike Gillislee approves of this change.4. When the ball hits the end zone, it's immediately ruled a touchback. There is no need for a player to down the ball in the end zone to initiate a touchback.
Apparently neither the players nor the refs understand the new rules;The new helmet rule, while I understand the attempt, seems to make things even more complicated. They should a couple of 'penalties' under the new rule at the gym, and I swear the clip they showed of some LB hitting a Jags WR looked like a shoulder hit the guys WR head as he whipped around from contact.
Also means Gronk better bubble wrap his legs next year, we are going to see all sorts of these attempts to avoid the head area completely.
PHILADELPHIA -- A presentation this week by NFL referees to the Philadelphia Eagles on the new helmet rule caused frustration among the players, according to team members, and created further confusion for some about what is expected of them.
"We were trying to ask questions to get a better understanding, and yet they couldn't really give us an answer," linebacker Nigel Bradham said. "They couldn't give us what we were looking for."
Under the new rule, a player will be penalized 15 yards and potentially fined or ejected for lowering his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent.
During the presentation, which lasted close to an hour according to Bradham, players were shown clips of what are now considered illegal hits -- some of which appeared to them as routine tackles.
Seeking further clarification during the Q&A that followed, the players showed the presenters a video of safety Malcolm Jenkins' hit on wide receiver Brandin Cooks during Super Bowl LII that knocked Cooks out of the game. The refs were split on whether it would now be considered an illegal hit.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24227602/philadelphia-eagles-players-express-frustration-new-helmet-rule-presentationThe rule applies to not only tacklers but linemen and ball carriers as well. The concern for running backs is that they are going to have to retrain themselves after years of attacking a certain way.
"It's going to take a different approach to learn as individuals how to keep our head up and see what we're doing," Matt Jones, a 6-foot-2, 239-pound power back said. "But it's going to be kind of hard because we're taught to run through guys and put our helmet where their number is at. It's like if it's a third-and-1 and you have to have it, and you meet in the hole, there's no way possible you're not going to meet head-on-head and helmet-on-helmet."
The meeting between the Eagles and refs was described as spirited, with the players expressing consternation over the new rule.
"[The refs] were kind of like, 'Hey, we didn't make the rules.' Because I think guys were kind of frustrated," running back Wendell Smallwood said. "Most of the defense was like, 'Man, how are we supposed to tackle?' They were frustrated."
We were watching the Sox shit on the Yankees. Could you expand on that?If this game tonight is any indication. The NFL will be unwatchable.
This video will do that for meWe were watching the Sox shit on the Yankees. Could you expand on that?
This is the NFL. If officials couldn’t adjust to the catch rule. This is going to be even worse.We'll see how it unfolds. I would expect more flags in preseason while both refs and players adjust to new rules.
Tough to extrapolate from one game.
if you search on Twitter for "NFL penalty" you will find a bunch more of videos from this weeks pre-season games..I'd be interested to see the other three. The video above looked like a play that would be a penalty even under the 2017 rules (leading with the head against a defenseless receiver).
NFL players are going to make the game unwatchable if they refuse adjust to the rule change and play the same as they are in preseason.The NFL is going to become unwatchable if they call these new penalties the same as they are in the pre-season.
It’s making he game very unenjoyable .
With regard to your first sentence, the players (or at least some of them) are claiming that they don't know what to adjust to.NFL players are going to make the game unwatchable if they refuse adjust to the rule change and play the same as they are in preseason.
NFL players are also going to make the game unwatchable if we see a half dozen committing suicide or murder every year due to CTE.