Are we over-protecting QBs?

I think they've probably swung the pendulum too far in that direction but until there's some kind of change in the way NFL players are compensated, the quarterback has way too much salary going to him for the position to be treated like it was before officiating wise. Think about it, it was only a couple of decades ago that the league let Dan Marino get cheapshotted until he was a barely mobile husk of what he was in the 80s, and they let Troy Aikman get hit so much he was done at 34. Steve Young had more years in the tank too but had to retire because of concussions as well.

I think those three guys in particular all having to retire or be severely diminished in their last years as Marino was informed a lot of the thinking for Goodell and the current owners (particularly Jerry Jones due to Aikman). And they look at the knee diving rule after Brady was cheapshotted as a good idea that worked out well, so why not go further?

I don't know if people want to see quarterbacks get sacked hard if it means they have to watch David Blough start for their team, is what I'm saying.

Yes.  The NFL only cares about the QB.  Not the other players.  Case in point William Hayes of the Dolphins tears ACL trying to avoid dumb flag for body weight, and the NFL doesn't care.

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/9/24/17896466/william-hayes-acl-tear-miami-dolphins-nfl-roughing-passer-rule

I think you'll find that football fans are going to be almost unanimous in thinking we've gone too far in protecting the QB. Some of the stuff that's gotten called 'roughing the passer' in the last few years and especially this season are just textbook tackles. It's either gotta go back the other way, or you just say the QB is two hand touch or put flags on the QB or something. You can't throw a flag for just tackling the QB and expect it to fly

"The new targeting rules aren't so bad, but the new rule about allowing the full weight to land on the QB is just nonsense. "

I hate the targeting rules. Or at least how they are applied. They seem to be rules at least partially applied in a sense to show 'we're doing something!' rather than consistency. 

'Targeting', by definition, would seem to be a defensive player using his helmet deliberately as a weapon to hit another players head. This also risks injury to himself. 

However, we have some 'targets' that aren't called (I can live with that for now, refs are only human. They should be professionals and better, but that's a different argument).

But we also get incidental contact (good hit, helmet accidently bangs against the opposite player) and incidents that seem to be just as dangerous, but aren't even called. (I.E. a full back lowering his head and shoulder to deliver a blow). 

They should tighten up the rules and the call. Make it a 15 yard automatic first down, not an ejection, unless you have a second one. 

This is stupid. I don't believe its helping make the game safer and it is influencing games. 

I mean Ben is lucky he was wearing a helmet on one of them.  The guy touched his head for a second and he fell down.  Could you imagine if he wasn't protected by the helmet and a 15 yard roughing the passer call?

Put a dress on the qb

I another point that people don't seem to be making is that piling in a ton of "position" specific rules will hurt natural innovation/change in football. Maybe QBs should be large/strong enough to take hits and not simply be able to make reads and throw a ball accurately. 

Is the new "point of emphasis" strictly about avoiding body weight on the QB or the "passer"?

Because I still believe Andy van Ginkle's hit on Brandon Peters in last year's Wisconsin game should have been called, my answer is no, officials are not protecting QBs "too much."

How about QB's wear a belt with flags on it.... the defender pulls the flag off his belt and he's down. 

Either that or let football teams sign enforcers like hockey teams used to, police yourself.

:-)

It is dumb. Either put flag football belts on QBs or let them get hit. 

William Hayes thinks so, I have to agree.

Yes.

It is hard enough for a defender to avoid the head/neck area of the QB. But it's understandable and a somewhat realistic measure to take all things considered.

It is hard enough for a defender not to hit the QB low. But it results in leg injuries. Still a little uneasy about this, but lunging directly into knees of a stationary target is at least a little realistic.

But you take those two things into account, and now the only area you can hit is between the thighs and the chest. So you options are to drive through a guy to tackle, or basically hug him to death. You can't pick him up, you can't "throw him to the ground". So any sort of wrap and twist or lift are out the window. So the only remaining way to hit them is to drive through them, aka a sound tackle. Asking the defender not to land their body weight on the QB is unreasonable, particularly given the other rules. The other rules seemed more realistic and had a more direct connection with "safety", and therefore should be maintained over this new rule.

This is also the case for zone defenders. No idea how you play zone defense any more in the league unless you can get a PBU. If a guy catches a pass coming into your zone, there is nothing you can do that is within the rules anymore, because he's a defenseless player. The NFL should be stressing sound technique, not launching, no head to head contact. But "guy running into my zone I better let him catch it any then chase him so I can wrap him up" isn't within the constructs of the game. It's gone too far. So unless you want "two hand touch for defenseless players", right now there is not a valid way to play defense on a significant number of snaps.

Each year I drift further and further from the NFL.  I honestly don't care about it much anymore and don't even have a favorite team.  The rules are just getting worse and worse every year.  I watched some of that game last night and it was a joke with those solid form tackles that drew a flag.  I assume they are officiating the rule correctly, but between that and the college targeting rule, it is getting ridiculous that we are taking football out of football.  

I mean, when it comes to the game and trying to get a guy down to help your team I don’t really think it’s right for a guy to pick a smaller guy up or a QB who is standing there and throw him into the ground. Nor should a 320 lb. dude be allowed to grab a guy and wrap up and then drop his entire weight onto a guy and smush him into the ground. That is football but I don’t care for that shit. I like the hard hits without hitting a guy in the helmet. If I want to throw every part of my body into Zeke Elliot, helmet includrd without hitting his head, I believe I should. That’s my stance on real football.

there should be a distinction btw intentional/unnecessary roughness and inevitable/accidental. Usually it is not difficult to distinguish the two.

Or maybe they should just apply rules of tag football on QB or the entire game. 

More than just overprotecting QBs they are coming up with new rules that confuse players, coaches and fans. 

With new rules it often takes one or two years for players to adjust their learned behavior and the flags to go down. Even after that correction time the flags for this will mostly still be arbitrary. 

When 98% of NFL players tested after death show CTE, "we" aren't "overprotecting" anyone.

Absolutely zero decisions should be made about player suspensions in game. Review after the game and give it a full review then decide on a suspension. This would eliminate 95% of the poor decisions. All suspensions come from the same crew and from the same standards. Call the penalty and the suspension will come in the following game if needed.

IMO, mitigating the risk of head injuries should be the only major consideration for player safety rules outside of eliminating huuuuuuge hits (ie, blind-side blocks, defensively player crossing route obliterations, etc.)

Getting a broken collarbone seems like a reasonable risk for a QB who is making mega millions to play football. Yes, the long-term damage to a player's body can be debilitating. But there is something qualitatively different about long-term brain damage.

At the end of the day, these roughing the passer rule changes are infinitely less about player safety than they are about the owners protecting their cash cow QBs.

When a defensive player admits he tore his ACL when he tried not to hit the QB too hard, then you've gone too far.  Also, there are players taking just as many hits, with more ferocity, all game, but because QBs are prominent marketing tools, the focus is on keeping them healthy beyond what feels reasonable.  I don't think QBs should be speared on every play, but we sure do seem to treat them closer to punters and kickers than other football players.

They'll change the rule right after it screws the Lions out of a playoff win. 

How to sack a quarterback in the NFL....wait nvm. pic.twitter.com/EYuOo4qNEq

— Sean McGann (@seanmickeyG14) September 23, 2018