What will the 2018 season look like with new helmet rule

[mc52beast]

Pretty good read. Talks about how Cam likes to run and that if he lowers his head (which players have been doing for years) he could get a 15 yard flag. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2783289-new-helmet-rule-could-make-nfl-unrecognizable

[LinvilleGorge]

No one hasn’t any clue. And that’s the major problem.

If the NFL enforces this rule to the letter, hen football as we’ve always known it is done. If they don’t, then what’s the point of having a rule? I sure as hell don’t want to see games influenced by crucial penalties on a wildly inconsistently officiated rule.

[BrianS]

The subjectivity of this rule is even worse that pass interference.  I appreciate the desire to make the game safer, but this rule is just terrible in it's wording and then made worse when the NFL tried to clarify by saying that bracing for an impact is not a foul.

[Beast_3000]

3 minutes ago, BrianS said:

The subjectivity of this rule is even worse that pass interference.  I appreciate the desire to make the game safer, but this rule is just terrible in it's wording and then made worse when the NFL tried to clarify by saying that bracing for an impact is not a foul.

WOW I knew about the new rule but I didn’t know that the rule was that ambiguous 

[BrianS]

There's also a video of the NFL's Head of Officiating trying to explain that as a RB, lowering your head going into the line isn't a foul.

It's absolute insanity.

[KillerKat]

It's just further proof that the NFL needs to have these gray area rules in order to help the teams they want to win. They help one gray area with the catch rule, but then insert another.

[GRWatcher]

I appreciate that the league is trying to lessen severe head trauma. It's going to take a generation of new players before that happens consistently however. Habit are habits and these are lifelong habits. Compare it to how Ricky Manning Jr was a good cornerback until they changed the rules about contact and he couldn't adjust. The problem is that the refs not only have to, in real time, gauge where the helmets are but what the player's intent was. Courts of law have trouble determining intent, pity the ref. I predict longer games and 'biased' refs because of assumptions they're going to need to make. It's going to be ugly.

[OneBadCat]

They will only enforce this rule on Cam in crucial 3rd down situations and in the superbowl.

[LinvilleGorge]

I get what they’re trying to do with this. They’re trying to eliminate reckless play that creates unnecessary added risk to the game. What they really want is a rule giving the ref the freedom to throw a flag in situations where a player makes a play that’s gonna break his damn neck or someone else’s neck. They’re trying to actively avoid the next Ryan Shazier situation. But, trying to write that into an actual rule that can be fairly and consistently officiated is an entirely different beast.

[OceanPanther]

When I first heard about the new ruling ,,  interior offense and defensive lineman will be treated like all players lowering their helmet..   tell me that wouldn't be a cluster %$#&.. 

Think of all the running backs that leap over the pile for short yardage on the goal line or for a first down..

 

 

[motocross_cat]

If this rule is truly enforced then the xfl has a chance.

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, OceanPanther said:

When I first heard about the new ruling ,,  interior offense and defensive lineman will be treated like all players lowering their helmet..   tell me that wouldn't be a cluster %$#&.. 

Think of all the running backs that leap over the pile for short yardage on the goal line or for a first down..

 

 

Yep. If it's enforced to the letter of the law, line play as we know it is over. The three point stance is gone. Exploding out of a three point stance and into the opposing line is effectively banned from the game.

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, motocross_cat said:

If this rule is truly enforced then the xfl has a chance.

Yep. The game of football at the NFL level would become virtually unrecognizable overnight. The game would become much, much more finesse based. Linemen as we know them today would be rendered virtually useless.

[WarHeel]

I project this will be just as confusing as the catch rule of which we still have no precise definition.

 

Go back to the leather helmets and players will stop tackling with reckless abandon or lowering their heads prior to launching themselves like missiles into opposing players. Could also decrease concussion risk/occurrence all while minimizing overly descriptive rules that have no firm definition.