Gadfly22
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I think the NFL is correct in having strict rules against helmet-to-helmet contact and low tackles on QBs -- maybe even the rule on hits to defenseless receivers.
But what seems wrong to me is the enforcement. Selvie gets knocked down going for the QB. His momentum inevitable carries him forward low, and he draws a penalty. Carr (I think it was) goes to make a tackle in the secondary, the offensive player goes to the ground, changing the target of the tackle, and he gets called for helmet-to-helmet contact.
When the contact rules are being violated through no fault of the defensive player, there should be no penalty. There is no policy reason for penalizing accidental hits -- they weren't intentional in the first place, so penalizing them won't stop or reduce them. It's like the no-call for blocking in the back if the player being blocked from the front suddenly turns or the no-call on roughing the kicker if you get blocked into the kicker. The refs have to use some discretion in seeing when an apparently bad hit is just a good hit turned bad by circumstances beyond the hitting player's control. Penalizing accidents does no one any good.
But what seems wrong to me is the enforcement. Selvie gets knocked down going for the QB. His momentum inevitable carries him forward low, and he draws a penalty. Carr (I think it was) goes to make a tackle in the secondary, the offensive player goes to the ground, changing the target of the tackle, and he gets called for helmet-to-helmet contact.
When the contact rules are being violated through no fault of the defensive player, there should be no penalty. There is no policy reason for penalizing accidental hits -- they weren't intentional in the first place, so penalizing them won't stop or reduce them. It's like the no-call for blocking in the back if the player being blocked from the front suddenly turns or the no-call on roughing the kicker if you get blocked into the kicker. The refs have to use some discretion in seeing when an apparently bad hit is just a good hit turned bad by circumstances beyond the hitting player's control. Penalizing accidents does no one any good.