The foul wiped out an 11-yard gain and resulted in an 11-yard penalty, a 22-yard swing that put the Saints at first and 21.
Three plays later, the Saints punted. Four plays later, Cowboys running back
Tony Pollard went 58 yards for a touchdown. And it was then 20-10 and the lights were almost entirely out.
Troy Aikman of Fox immediately described it is a “terrible call.” The NFL has kept its head low and its mouth shut about it.
But that’s the rule, bad as it may be.
Check out our story from the preseason of the first year in which the rule was put on the books. As we explained at the time, the inaccurately-labeled rule “doesn’t carve out situations where the opponent sees the hit coming,” and “it prohibits a blocker from blocking with his helmet, forearm, or shoulder while moving in any direction other than toward the opponent’s end line.”
It’s just a bad rule. It’s a rule created by non-football people looking for ways to reduce the number of big hits in a given game, potentially as part of the broader quest to finish the push for 17 games and to commence the effort to expand to 18.
Read the rest:
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...ts-was-proper-application-of-horrendous-rule/