But, in an effort to protect the quarterback the NFL has changed the rules to how defenders can or can not sack the quarterback. The ruling is as follows: No defensive player may run into a passer of a legal forward pass after the ball has left his hand (15 yards). The referee must determine whether opponent had a reasonable chance to stop his momentum during an attempt to block the pass or tackle the passer while he still had the ball.
The problem with this is that it can be very hard to determine whether or not the hit was "hard", or with bad intent. Also, you have to take into account whether or not the player would have been able to stop his momentum, as the ruling says. Just last weekend, Justin Tuck of the Giants got fined $7,500 for a helmet to helmet hit, and his driving of the quarterback into the ground. I'm sorry, but Justin Tuck is HUGE, and he's running full strength at the quarterback and when he gets a hold of him, it would be hard to stop, let alone think about "hmm should I not continue this tackle?" The NFL is smart for fining people, as a way of getting the message across that dangerous hits are not tolerated, but fining people for every hit changes the mentality and toughness of the game.
1 comment:
Hines Ward is another culprite of this act as well. He got fined for a hit that was TOTAL LEAGUE and the only reason he was fined was becuase he de-cleated the guy. In my opnion, if you get laid out like that becuase your not looking it's your own fault you should always keep your head moving to watch for blockers. The reason they should take it easy on the penalties is becuase a year or two ago Giants end Kinuanku (however you spell his name) went in for the tackle and just stopped when he had the quaterback wrapped up. It's just putting fear in these dfensive players and that's not right.
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