Massive rule change for chop blocks

[Plankton]

You think you saw too many penalty flags before? Wait until this year.

All chop blocks have been banned. They occur virtually every play all over the field.

What will define a chop block? Is it literally any block anywhere on the field where the blocker goes below the waist on a defender? If so....yikes. How else is Cole Beasley supposed to block an outside linebacker on a sweep. How is a running back supposed to pick up a blitz on a guy 150 pounds heavier than him? Is it now illegal for lineman to go low on goal line plays or on 3rd-and-inches? What about extra points? Emmitt Smith would have had 1,000 penalties on him in pass protection.

I agreed with the calls when one player was held up while another went low. And I'm not altogether against banning the zone blocking schemes like Denver had for years where they shift than all go low at the defensive linemen's knees. But this takes it too far.

I fear the game is evaporating before our eyes.

A chop block is when a guy is high/low blocked simultaneously. It's illegal to chop a guy down when he's engaged up high.

It's a bush league block that ruins knees.

 

[phildadon86]

Did you read any of the replies to the original post that explained that this rule change is very minor, or did you just decide to go off on a rant?

Think hes just ranting. I don't see how Fantasy Football is hurting the game, at all. Only person fantasy football seems to have hurt is Tony Romo if we are being honest lol

 

[AzorAhai]

Whats going to be causing flags isn't being discussed here. The new(ish) position of the umpire has caused a ton of defensive holdings to go completely missed. Theres plenty of cases where an OL is trying to get up field for a block and the DL holds him to prevent him from reaching his spot. The easy way to reach this DL and counter it is a cut block from the other OL whose man it is. Thing is, that can look like an OL engaged with a DL even though its not. That makes the cut block look like a chop block under these new rules. With this being the case, the "emphasis" this season needs to be put on holding on the DL or theres going to be a significant competitive advantage to the DL on run plays.

 

[erod]

A chop block is when a guy is high/low blocked simultaneously. It's illegal to chop a guy down when he's engaged up high.

It's a bush league block that ruins knees.

So why the rule change? It was already there.

 

[Kaiser]

New England just changed their offensive scheme to include all five OL chop blocking on every play.

Reached for comment, Bill Belichick told reporters "What are you lookin' at?"

 

[Plankton]

So why the rule change? It was already there.

The geniuses that ran the league thought it was OK to be high/lowed if the defender "could see the block coming". This is why they had the loophole with the blockers being aligned adjacent to each other.

It's still a bush league block that put defenders at risk. That isn't football - it's chicken spit blocking.

 

[Hoov]

A rant? two sentences is a rant? Actually no I didnt read the replies. Actually when I pressed the reply button there were no responses yet. And even Now I have not read any of them.

Don't read them but keep posting. The thread is funnier that way

 

[YosemiteSam]

You think you saw too many penalty flags before? Wait until this year.

All chop blocks have been banned. They occur virtually every play all over the field.

What will define a chop block? Is it literally any block anywhere on the field where the blocker goes below the waist on a defender? If so....yikes. How else is Cole Beasley supposed to block an outside linebacker on a sweep. How is a running back supposed to pick up a blitz on a guy 150 pounds heavier than him? Is it now illegal for lineman to go low on goal line plays or on 3rd-and-inches? What about extra points? Emmitt Smith would have had 1,000 penalties on him in pass protection.

I agreed with the calls when one player was held up while another went low. And I'm not altogether against banning the zone blocking schemes like Denver had for years where they shift than all go low at the defensive linemen's knees. But this takes it too far.

I fear the game is evaporating before our eyes.

A cut block is blocking someone below the waist. A chop block *IS* a cut block except another defender must also be engaged on the opponent above the waist. Cut blocks are not illegal. Only chop blocks are.

 

[RJ_MacReady]

For those that actually know the nuance of this new rule, please answer this:

- Will this new rule affect the way our O-line has executed the ZBS?
- Does this appear to be a rule that will change blocking scheme philosophies? If so, how?

Thank you. I will take my answer off the air..