Revisiting the "RB leading with your helmet rule"

[JSeahawks]

Turns out it isn't ruining football afterall. Through the first two weeks it hasn't been called yet. Just as I thought at the time, it's just a political rule to be able to tell the lawyers, "hey, we're doing something to protect our players."

Marshawn is safe!

 

[onanygivensunday]

Yeah... the stars have to align pretty well for the infraction to be flagged and the penalty walked off.

 

[HawkFan72]

I've seen a few plays where I thought it would be called and it wasn't. I'm glad they seem to be very strict with what it actually means.

I'm still sure there will be some point when it is randomly called after an amazing run and cause us all to go into a fury.

 

[Blitzer88]

I still have some concerns about it and when or when it won't be called, but so far so good.

 

[Basis4day]

I posted this in another thread regarding Spencer Ware against Denver, i think it deals with a few misconceptions and the very specific instances when this rule would be called:

I need to see the Ware play in question, but the requirements for the new rule are very specific. Below is the official video describing the scenarios. It is not simply "lowering the head" which i fear many are assuming.

http://www.nflevolution.com/article/vid ... 0000229934

"It is a foul if a runner or tackler initiates forcible contact by delivering a blow with the top/crown of his helmet against an opponent when both players are clearly outside the tackle box (an area extending from tackle to tackle and from three yards beyond the line of scrimmage to the offensive team’s end line). Incidental contact by the helmet of a runner or tackler against an opponent shall not be a foul."

In the video distributed by the NFL, three elements must all be present for a flag to be thrown. The player must a.) line up his opponent, b.) lower his head and c.) deliver a forcible blow with the crown of his helmet.

Ok, there is a play in question with 2:33 left in the 4th where Ware breaks a nice gain and lowers his head. There are two reasons i see based on the above criteria as to why the new helmet rule doesn't apply.

1. Ware doesn't square up the opponent, the hit comes from an angle.
2. It appears to me that the contact was initiated with the right shoulder pad and not the helmet.

It's at about the 6:23 mark of this video:

[youtube]xIW6GJCqnPk[/youtube]

 

[Hawks46]

Well, it's also preseason. I would think they'd try to call it, to see if they get it right, but if we take away what we saw from the preseason:

There will be triple the amount of flags thrown in the regular season

You really only have to breathe on someone to get a personal foul called.

The number of pick/rub plays by the offense will be cut down by half.

Offensive PI calls will go up, while defensive PI calls will go down.

Do I believe any of this ? Not really.

 

[Kixkahn]

It is still on wait and see in my books. Wait until it is a situation to win a game especially ones connected with playoffs. Hate to say it but the refs can't be trusted.

 

[SNDavidson]

Just a little trick the zebras have in their back pocket for when they'd like to kill a team's dreams.

 

[sc85sis]

Would that play by Mike Rob in the Bears game have drawn a flag? He certainly wasn't looking to injure the guy (as one can tell based on Mike's reaction immediately after the play).

 

[Shadowhawk]

Would that play by Mike Rob in the Bears game have drawn a flag? He certainly wasn't looking to injure the guy (as one can tell based on Mike's reaction immediately after the play).

I'm pretty sure they specifically mentioned that play as one of the ones that WOULD get flagged.

And I agree with Kixkahn: I want to see how this shakes out over the course of a season before breathing a sigh of relief.

 

[ivotuk]

Would that play by Mike Rob in the Bears game have drawn a flag? He certainly wasn't looking to injure the guy (as one can tell based on Mike's reaction immediately after the play).

That would be a close one imho, but the "crown of the helmet" is very specific and was defined as "the player must be looking down at the ground." IIRC, MRob lowered his head but wasn't looking straight down.

I think it's such a specific rule that the refs won't call it unless they see an injury, then the flag will come out whether it fits the rules or not. Much like on Kam's legal hit on SF's TE.

 

[12th_Bob]

On the Spencer Ware play, in the replay I saw from another angle, he used his shoulder and not his helmet as it looks from the profile view.

 

[Basis4day]

Would that play by Mike Rob in the Bears game have drawn a flag? He certainly wasn't looking to injure the guy (as one can tell based on Mike's reaction immediately after the play).

That would be a close one imho, but the "crown of the helmet" is very specific and was defined as "the player must be looking down at the ground." IIRC, MRob lowered his head but wasn't looking straight down.

I think it's such a specific rule that the refs won't call it unless they see an injury, then the flag will come out whether it fits the rules or not. Much like on Kam's legal hit on SF's TE.

Everyone look at the three criteria and make up their own minds

The closest argument is that he didn't line him up, but at the last second after re watching i think he does. Definitely initiates contact with the crown though.

 

[HawkFan72]

Just a little trick the zebras have in their back pocket for when they'd like to kill a team's dreams.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

 

[dunceface]

It is still on wait and see in my books. Wait until it is a situation to win a game especially ones connected with playoffs. Hate to say it but the refs can't be trusted.

You just know Mike Carey can't wait to call this gainst us...

 

[kearly]

Turns out it isn't ruining football afterall. Through the first two weeks it hasn't been called yet. Just as I thought at the time, it's just a political rule to be able to tell the lawyers, "hey, we're doing something to protect our players."

Marshawn is safe!

I counted at least 3 times in the Denver game where Seattle could have been flagged for it, but it never happened. And that was on a night when the refs literally threw flags on the majority of snaps (many were unofficial: dual penalty cancelled out, flag was picked up, team didn't accept penalty, etc). The criteria for the rule are very complex and difficult to discern in real time. That means you are going to see officials either call it incorrectly if they are aggressive or allow runners to break the rule and swallow their whistles if they are cautious. This rule is very difficult to enforce in real time without the benefit of instant replay. In this game, I don't think the refs felt like taking chances with this rule. They seemed to err on the side of caution, despite being really aggressive with all the other calls. Which is a good sign.

I still think it is a terrible rule. You know that they will only call it five times all season, a few of those times incorrectly, and it will somehow cost us a game. You just know.

J, I hope you are right that the rule is toothless and is purely political / PR related.

 

[onanygivensunday]

Much ado bout nothing.

Let's wait until it's called against us and then micro-analyze the shit out of it, okay?

 

[The Outfield]

Much ado bout nothing.

Let's wait until it's called against us and then micro-analyze the shit out of it, okay?

It will happen against us. On a game-winning touchdown of a playoff game.

 

[loafoftatupu]

I saw the shoulder from Ware, but one of the other things that stood out and made me think of it was Tate on a short catch and run. He was near the sideline and first down marker, he literally turned his back to the defender and plowed.

Now Tate is a scrapper, he runs through contact himself and is no stranger to leading with his head, but that time he looked different as he turned his body around as he approached contact. Maybe just a preservation technique, I dunno.. but I can't remember him doing it.