‘Ridiculous’ new roughing rule must go
The chorus is so loud, and universal, against the NFL’s new, unduly harsh, over-the-top roughing-the-passing penalty that the league must act sooner than later to soften it.
Like, this week.
This year for the first time, defenders who sack the quarterback cannot land with their body weight on top of the passer. Official league language qualifies that slightly, to say it’s a foul if a defender lands “with all or most” of his weight on a passer.
Green Bay’s Clay Matthews has been flagged once in each of the Packers’ three games so far. Each time he, and everyone but NFL folk, couldn’t believe their eyes. The second one literally cost Green Bay a win vs. Minnesota.
It’s yet another NFL rule that might sound good in commendable safety-first theory, or on paper in a committee room in the spring, but which in practice on the field come August and September proves unworkable, unreasonable and, worst of all, unfair.
“This is now officially ridiculous,”
Washington Post columnist Cindy Boren wrote Sunday.
Former perennial all-pro Cleveland Browns offensive (not defensive) tackle Joe Thomas implored the NFL in a tweet, filled with crying-laughter emojis, to “tell us how a player, running at full speed, can tackle a quarterback squarely from the front, and not land on said quarterback with most of his weight? I’ll hang up and listen now …”
FOX Sports analyst and Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman sounded so angry Sunday about a bogus such penalty given to Cowboys DE Tyrone Crawford of Windsor, Ont., during Sunday’s Seattle-Dallas game that he said, in obvious disgust, “I’m not even going to comment on it anymore. It’s just ridiculous.”