The QB slide rule needs to be fixed

[Recon_Hawk]

I understand the importance of keeping the QB injury-free and on the roster, but its got to the point where defenders are stuck between helping their team win or receiving a 15 yard penalty with an added fine from the commissioner.

Perhaps one of the most annoying enforced rule is the one protecting the quarterback during his slide. And QBs are taking advantage of it.

Rule 7, Section 2 of the NFL Rulebook describe a "Dead Ball.":
"When a runner declares himself down by sliding feet first on the ground. The ball is dead the instant the runner touches the ground with anything other than his hands or his feet;

Note: Defenders are required to treat a sliding runner as they would a runner who is down by contact (1) A defender must pull up when a runner begins a feet-first slide.

This does not mean that all contact by a defender is illegal. If a defender has already committed himself, and the contact is unavoidable, it is not a foul unless the defender commits some other act, such as helmet-to-helmet contact or by driving his forearm or shoulder into the head or neck area of the runner."

The bolded text is the problem I have with it. It's conflicting with itself. Essentially it's saying a quarterback isn't down by contact till his butt hits the ground, yet the defender isn't allowed to prevent the quarterback from adding a couple yards with a giant leaping slide. And Make no mistake, the QB isn't allowed to get hit. Even when it's a close play, the refs will throw a flag

Take this Alex Smith slide last week against the Bills that ended with a Bills' 15 yard roughing penalty. Smith is beginning his slide at the 49 yard line:


But with a huge leap, he gains an extra two yards in the air:


and then you see where the refs mark the ball.



The league wants to keep the QB safe? Then mark the ball down where the starts the act of a slide. Not when a part of his body actually hits the ground!

rant over

 

[JustTheTip]

Just put a 3 and Wilson on every QBs jersery, seems to make the calls on QB slides more selective.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

Just put a 3 and Wilson on every QBs jersery, seems to make the calls on QB slides more selective.

The refs do let Wilson take a few hits on his slide, but I honestly don't remember one that was so bad it deserved a flag, but I guess compared to some of the other weak ass calls around the league they could be. I don't know. maybe the refs let mobile QBs take more hits.

 

[JustTheTip]

Just put a 3 and Wilson on every QBs jersery, seems to make the calls on QB slides more selective.

The refs do let Wilson take a few hits on his slide, but I honestly don't remember one that was so bad it deserved a flag, but I guess compared to some of the other weak ass calls around the league they could be. I don't know. maybe the refs let mobile QBs take more hits.

I wasn't saying any of them were necessarily so bad they deserve flags, more that they seem to be more selective on what gets flagged on Wilson then other QBs. IMO, they are calling it properly on Wilson (if they would call it the same way consistently for all QBs.)

 

[Recon_Hawk]

Sorry I misread your post. We're in agreement then.

 

[Erebus]

The league wants to keep the QB safe? Then mark the ball down where the starts the act of a slide. Not when a part of his body actually hits the ground!

The enforcement of the rule and the way it's written conflict with each other. It is actually enforced the way you want it. The QB is down, and the ball is spotted where the QB starts to give himself up, not where his butt actually touches the ground.

 

[Natethegreat]

It was more a bad spot than anything else. If you notice most times refs do mark the spot were they began the slide. Also looks to me like the defender did lead with his helmet in that pic.

 

[CurryStopstheRuns]

It was more a bad spot than anything else. If you notice most times refs do mark the spot were they began the slide. Also looks to me like the defender did lead with his helmet in that pic.

Agreed. It was a horrible spot as the ball is supposed to be placed where the ball is when the slide begins. Not only did the defender lead with his helmet, he also contacted the helmet of the protected player.

 

[NINEster]

I remember in 2011 the 49ers tackled the Cards QB in SF on a 4th down play that was stopped short of the marker, but got a late hit penalty assessed on the defender, leading to the Cards only TD of the game.

Wasn't a big deal for the game, but it irked me that defenders could be put in those situations and could cost a team in a crucial situation.

 

[mikeak]

It was more a bad spot than anything else. If you notice most times refs do mark the spot were they began the slide. Also looks to me like the defender did lead with his helmet in that pic.

Agreed. It was a horrible spot as the ball is supposed to be placed where the ball is when the slide begins. Not only did the defender lead with his helmet, he also contacted the helmet of the protected player.

Helmet to helmet came from the QB sliding. If you look at the first picture the defender is airborne when the qb starts sliding so he can't stop himself.

I agree that he led with helmet, he could also have gotten a hand out to try to minimize the impact but at times players gets airborne, qb slides after that and a flag is thrown.

Bad calls are made every day in the NFL - this is one that in general the refs gets it right

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The league wants to keep the QB safe? Then mark the ball down where the starts the act of a slide. Not when a part of his body actually hits the ground!

rant over

The rule is where they QB starts his slide.......so I'm confused.

Are you asking the refs to make a judgement call as to where the act of the slide started in the air? That's next to impossible, there has to be a concrete spot to call, and that spot is where his body hits the ground..........just like any other spot determination.

Getting into the semantics of "well, where did his INTENT to slide start?" is too much of a judgement call that everyone's going to freak out over.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

It was more a bad spot than anything else. If you notice most times refs do mark the spot were they began the slide. Also looks to me like the defender did lead with his helmet in that pic.

I'm not arguing the hit to the helmet of the QB. I agree it was the right call given the rules, but it's that these types of calls by the officials to mark the QB where his butt hits the ground (which is very common) lead to these hits. Marking the QB down at the moment his act of sliding begins would prevent this and help the defense avoid hits/penalties they don't want to happen either.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

The league wants to keep the QB safe? Then mark the ball down where the starts the act of a slide. Not when a part of his body actually hits the ground!

rant over

Are you asking the refs to make a judgement call as to where the act of the slide started in the air?

Yes, that's what I would like to see enforced better. If refs began marking the QB where the QB pulls back on his run and begins his slide (and not where he hits the ground), it protects the QB and makes the game more fair for the defense.

That's next to impossible, there has to be a concrete spot to call, and that spot is where his body hits the ground..........just like any other spot determination.

Getting into the semantics of "well, where did his INTENT to slide start?" is too much of a judgement call that everyone's going to freak out over.

It would be a judgement call, but refs are there to make judgement calls. It's part of their job. - the timing of a hit on the QB after the ball is released is an example. The ref has to make a judgement if the defender is already in motion or not to decide if it was a late hit. A hit on a defenseless receiver is another judgement call.

We've got a game full of rules to protect the offense which is mostly enforced on the defense. Why would a rule enforced on the offense be a bad thing?

If a quarterback wants to gain the extra yards, then he can put his head down and dive forward. If he wants to play it safe, then he can slide without worry of a hit but without as much yardage.