Yes, it's out of control. Either change the rules or throw less flags. Defenses aren't allowed to play and if they do, they have to second guess what they are about to do. It's a joke.
Yes. Way too many PI calls for the slightest contact, rules that allow the WR every right to get open and not be touched, too many rules restricting the ability to put fear in the quarterback. Also. unrelated but there are too many flags for unnecessary roughness for the smallest tap (half a foot out of bounds, a split second too late, a pass over the middle where the WR should typically be crushed.) It's getting pathetic.
The way the current rules are structured and enforced started with Bill Polian complaining about the Patriots mugging receivers back in 2004 when NE beat the Colts 20-3 in an AFC divisional playoff game. The Colts that year were the NFL offensive leaders. The following fall the NFL issued an edict that referees were to strictly enforce the 5 yard contact rule.
So changes in the rules over recent years haven't in any way, shape or form been made in order to assist with keeping Darling Tom's jersey clean? If you say so.
Refresh my memory, the taking out the knees rule/penalty. When did that become a rule/start to be enforced?
That's all part of an anti-Patriots conspiracy between Bill Polian, Peyton Manning, Jets fan Roger Goodell and Sal Alosi.
The rules have definitely been changed to favor the quarterback. Back in 2005 when this rule change was made Manning was the premier quarterback in this league. It is no accident that the Colts won the Super Bowl soon after. It's also true that NE has not won a championship since 2004. This was also the time when the Colts started winning head-to-head games vs. NE. That rule went into effect at the start of the 2006 season. Here's the section from Wikipedia about the events that led up to it: "On January 8, 2006, the Bengals met their division rival Pittsburgh in the first round of the AFC playoffs at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. On the Bengals' first pass play, Carson Palmer threw a 66-yard pass to rookie receiver Chris Henry. It was the longest completion in Bengals playoff history. After Palmer released the pass, Steelers defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen, a former Bengal, made contact with Palmer's lower left leg. The tackle, later ruled unintentional, violently wrenched Palmer's knee and he was forced to leave the game. A magnetic resonance imaging test revealed a severe knee injury; Palmer had tears of both the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments as well as cartilage and meniscus damage. Coincidentally, Henry himself suffered a knee injury on the same play, though far less severe. The Bengals lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers 31–17. During the off-season, the league's Rules Committee modified the rule regarding low hits on quarterbacks. The new rule prohibited defenders from hitting a passer at or below the knee unless they are blocked into him. Injuries to Palmer, Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, and Tampa Bay's Brian Griese were cited as reasons for the new rule. The rule now requires that defenders take every opportunity to avoid hitting a quarterback at or below the knees when the quarterback is in a defenseless position looking to throw with both feet on the ground." The idea that this is the "Brady Rule" resulting from Brady's injury is bullshit. The rule was in effect two years before Brady got his major knee injury.
The pendulum will swing the other way, but they've done a great job destroying the balance of football. I feel bad for the officials. Every year they have a new rule they have to implement it and get used to the new rule immediately with each game meaning a lot to the teams involved. Its bullshit. When they stop altering the rulebook every season, we will see a more consistent game.
the rules favor the QB the money is made in jersey sales (QB's especially) and theres more questionable PI calls than ever.(even some that go D when they should be against the O) the answer would be a happy medium between what we have now, and DB's being allowed to mug WR's in the 70's-80s
Yes. I miss the ground and pound style of the 1970s. If only people like Tom Lady and Matt Ryan didn't cry like divas after each hit the NFL would still be a game fought in the trenches.
the problem with the nfl the way things are at the moment is (IMHO) that the nfl is set up to be a league of parity, i.e. they want everyone to be competitive to keep things interesting but now unless you have a top QB its very very difficult to be competitive and there are only a very small number of players that fit that bill, hence if you have not been lucky enough to secure a top flight QB then you can pretty much kiss goodbye to any chance of winning anything unless or until you get one (and the same is just not true of any other position on the field to anything like the same degree).
5 different winners in the past 5 years. I think parity is a great thing and doesn't necessarily require a great QB (Eli, Big Ben, Brad Johnson, Dilfer are examples in the past 10 years), but it certainly helps.
I strongly doubt it will go the other way in at least the next 15 years. Hell look how many nfl teams dont even bother having fullbacks anymore. Shit look at the Titans in 09, they had one of the greatest rushing seasons in the history of the game and they didnt even make the playoffs. Teams only rush the ball just to keep defenses honest, and maybe for short yardage. Other than that this whole league has made almost all other aspects of the game irrelevant. As a matter of fact they have made the rules so blatantly shitty that look how many QBs are going out and tearing things up with AWFUL offensive lines. Vick ? Rapist ? Romo ? These guys all have had ultra awful Olines and yet are able to have elite passing numbers simply due to the way the rules are made
having a great QB is the single biggest decider of a team success though by some margin - look at the top 5 teams (by the odds) to win the superbowl this year and all have an elite QB save the Ravens.
The next 15 years? That's a little much. I can see the next 5-8 until it gets changed, because the media and coaches are already complaining that these new rules are bullshit, and in the PR driven NFL that has ate itself of what it used to be will cave and start to tweak it back to something much more balanced. The fullback may have died for most teams with no running game, but the ones who have a running game still use it. Weird huh? And the 09 Titans? That team was a mess minus CJ2k. That defense couldn't stop anyone. Kerry Collins was finished after the beating he took against the Ravens in the playoffs the previous season. The Jets have had great running games and made it where they have in the past two seasons, so I don't get the example. Remember James Starks? He didn't just keep defenses honest, he helped the Packers win it all. The running game still has a big part in the league, even though they are trying to destroy it.
