NEW TACKLING RULE CAUSES CONFUSION
Broncos cornerback Isaac Yiadom charged toward Chicago Bears tight end Adam Shaheen just as he caught the football in Saturday night’s preseason game in Denver. At that point, countless hours of practice became second-nature in making the stop.
“I was in coverage and had a 6-7, 250 (pound) tight end running at me, so I’m just going to hit him low,” Yiadom told The Denver Post after practice Monday. “I’m never going to try to hit with my head, because I’m not trying to hurt myself or anybody else.”
The tape doesn’t lie. Yiadom dived low and connected his right shoulder pad with Shaheen’s left shoulder pad, and the Bears’ beefy pass catcher tumbled to the grass. A textbook tackle — had Yiadom made it last year. Seconds later, a flag sailed through the air, and the biggest headache across the NFL this preseason made its presence felt in the Mile High City.
A personal foul for “lowering the head and initiating contact” resulted in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic Chicago first down, a rule instituted for the 2018 season.
More than 48 hours later, Yiadom still shook his head.
“I lowered my shoulder and had to try to hit him low. Then they threw the flag,” Yiadom said. “There’s nothing much I can do about it. I understand they’re trying to protect the players, but they’re going a little overboard this year with it.”
Going into the Indianapolis Colts-Baltimore Ravens game Monday night, 47 personal fouls for lowering the head and initiating contact had been assessed through 32 preseason games. And, Yiadom is not alone in feeling too many flags are being tossed.
Niners cornerback Richard Sherman called the rule’s enforcement “idiotic.” Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer told reporters “It’s going to cost some people some jobs.”
Even Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe got on Twitter to vent: “These penalties are getting ridiculous. Tough to take someone to the ground without landing on them, whipping them down, grazing their head or hitting their legs. This is a tough game for tough people.”
“It’s really gray right now,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “I think they’re calling it conservatively because they want to get it right and they want to change the behavior. But the problem I’m having with the call right now is it’s been bang-bang plays and it’s hard to tell if the head is hitting the body. And that’s the rule. If the head’s down and it hits the body, that’s the penalty.
“Isaac’s head was down, but it didn’t hit the body — it was placed to the side of the receiver and it was shoulder on the body. Not a foul. … But it’s hard to tell because you tackle with your shoulder and it’s led by the head. It’s hard to officiate that really cleanly, so we’ll see how it shakes out.”
Joseph added that “common sense” must prevail in the regular season when the ramifications for all calls escalates. Dating to organized team activities, Broncos players have practiced helmets-up tackling techniques to avoid lowering-of-the-head penalties. That will continue, no matter what calls are made on game day.
“I see that’s going to be a huge problem this year just because the NFL is so violent,” Broncos cornerback Chris Harris said. “It’s so hard to slow down. Someone runs a slant down the middle of the field, it’s hard to tell a safety to slow down and not try to kill that guy. It’s going to be a huge impact.”