If you watched the NFL on Sunday hoping to watch the game of football, you were sorely disappointed. Instead, what fans were treated to was the clear and obvious attempt by the NFL to make football illegal by penalizing it to death.
While the examples presented here are by no means the only examples of this, they are perhaps the most egregious.
Exhibit 1 comes from the Commanders-Patriots game where Washington defensive end KJ Henry committed a horrendous act of football by sacking Patriots QB Mac Jones, which is no longer allowed.
KJ Henry was called for roughing the passer on this play. Without exaggeration, I can honestly say there has never been a worse call in the history of the NFL. The league justified the flag by claiming Henry should have “gator rolled” or “crab walk” to prevent his weight from falling on Jones.
Hmm…so the league penalized Henry because he didn’t roll. And if he had rolled he wouldn’t have drawn a penalty? Well, if that’s the case, then Buffalo’s Tim Settle Jr. certainly shouldn’t have been called for roughing the passer on this hit against Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.
However, Settle was called for roughing the passer on that play even though he rolled and prevented himself from falling onto Burrow the way the league claims they want players to do.
Mac Jones, #10 of the New England Patriots, is hit during the first half in the game against the Washington Commanders at Gillette Stadium on November 05, 2023, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
What a ridiculous farce to ask professional athletes to tackle a QB to the ground but stick their arms out to prevent themselves from falling onto the QB. This is not football.
Exhibit 2 came from last week and was shared by former NFL great and current CBS analyst JJ Watt. In it, Ravens FB Pat Ricard commits the crime of blocking.
As Watt states, Ricard was fined for this. In earlier, more sane times, this video would have been shown as an example of a perfect block. In the era of faux football in which we currently live, it’s a $21,000 fine. Watt calls this “stealing money.” And, of course, it is. But it’s worse than that. It’s also the erasing of football. As Vince Lombardi said, football is blocking and tackling. Well, in 2023, it is not about that.
We close out with a video that would have scarcely been imaginable 20 years ago or even 10 years ago.
The offender here is Panthers DB Xavier Woods. His crime? Doing his job by trying to separate Colts receiver Michael Pittman from the ball.
Seriously, in what galaxy is that an illegal hit? What is the defender supposed to do?
There have been many jokes over the years about how the NFL has become like flag or touch football. If the league doesn’t take serious and immediate corrective action, they should seriously consider moving to two-hand touch, at least as it pertains to the quarterback. The horrifically fraudulent call against KJ Henry cost the Commanders three points. The roughing call against Miami’s Christian Wilkins cost the Dolphins a touchdown in their game against Philadelphia last week.
These calls are not just infuriating and sad. Of course, they are not of those things. But, more importantly, they’re determining the outcome of games. And if the NFL is chosen to structure its rules in such a way as to make the quarterback, not a football player, then it would probably be better just to quit the charade and make a two-hand touch equal a sack.
Never thought it would come to that. But we are clearly at that point.
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