Understanding Hard-Hitting Rules

[mlmpetert]

Something ive never like about the hard hitting rules is that I feel like in many situations the defender is without other options. Id like to start this thread to discuss rules relating to hits where it seems the player was wrongly penalized or fined, or to discuss rules in question to better understand them. Also since there seems to be a lot of subjectivity to illegal hitting rules I think talking about why a ref or the NFL was right or wrong might help clear things up (at least for me).

Starting off ive watched CB Dunta Robinson’s hit on Jermany Maclin many times and I think he was rightly flagged but there was nothing else he could have done.

Dunta Robinson starts converging to Maclin once he recognizes the play and as Maclin is also coincidentally converging to Robinson, at this point they are about 12-15 yards away from each other. When Maclin makes the catch Robinson is about 4 yards away. At this point Robinson has 3 viable options, 1) hit Maclin in the body, 2) whiff the body and try to take Maclin down via arm tackle, or 3) let up as much as possible and let Maclin run over him.

Robinson chose a combination of hitting Maclin in the body and letting up. Robinson initially lets up right while he is standing on the edge of the painted “40” yard marker, at which point Maclin breaks slightly to the inside of the field, however; is still moving towards Robinson while accelerating. Its important to note that after Maclin catches the ball he is moving at a faster rate than Robinson since Robinson had let up at this point and come to an almost complete stop. Robinson then cuts into Maclin’s path, scrunches down and hits Maclin’s right arm (ball carrying arm) and shoulder with his own shoulder. Maclin knows the hit is coming and tenses up right before the contact. Also worth noting is right before the hit Robinson’s helmet hits the lower portion of Maclins facemask, this seems minor and incidental, and is likely the reason the helmet to helmet contact rule wasn’t cited in Robinson’s fine.

Robinson was fined under the following rule:

It is a foul if a player initiates unnecessary contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture.

(a) Players in a defenseless posture are…(2) A receiver attempting to catch a pass; or who has completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a runner.

I completely believe Maclin was guilty of this rule, but I think this rule is complete BS.

In this play Robinson chose the safest way to hit Maclin, without allowing Maclin to gain additional yards. If he had let up completely he would of gotten trucked a la Laron Landry Brandon Jacobs 2008, which is not only embarrassing but also dangerous for the defender. His other option would be to whiff on the tackle and try and wrap a arm around Maclin. This would allow Maclin to gain additional yards after contact if brought down and giving that Maclin is taller and heavier and was moving faster than Robinson and to Robinson’s inside I would make the posture that Maclin would have broken free and gained many additional yards. I would also say that if Robinson made a arm tackle in this situation there would be a significant chance of injury to the arm/shoulder.

Im not big on Yahoo! Sports fan but this article makes several good points:

Falcons head coach Mike Smith said that he felt the Robinson hit was clean, and said "that's the way we teach it." On Monday, Smith said that his opinion hadn't changed.

Smith didn't represent himself in a way that would make people understand, but in a way, he does have a larger point. NFL defenders are taught to converge on receivers in zone pockets (the Falcons play a lot of zone in the 4-3 base defense) as the highest possible speed while still maintaining the control required to avoid whiffing on a tackle.

As we wrote on Monday, the Maclin and Jackson hits also reflect one unfortunate reality of NFL football — given the quickness of the game and certain schematic issues, a quarterback who leads his receiver into a zone pocket with defenders converging on him at full speed is essentially betting on physics and hoping against hope that the guy closing in on his receiver in the way he has been taught will be able to pull up in time.
It's not really a safe bet, no matter how many rules the NFL puts in place.

link and video:

Dunta Robinson fined $40K for Maclin hit, Falcons coach says ‘That’s the way we teach it’ - Shutdown Corner - NFL*Blog - Yahoo! Sports

Basically when the theres a zone defense on the field you run a much much higher likelihood of this type of hit. In my opinion its more the offensives players fault for these hits then it is the defensive player fault, and I think that’s something to be very concerned about. If a player is flagged for a illegal hit the penalty is 15 yards from the spot of the foul. In my opinion offensive coordinators would be foolish not have plays on their books that look to take advantage of the current hard hitting rules given the amount that there is to gain from a big hit.

Maclin was put in a situation where there was a significant probability of getting “jacked up” and to me that’s very troubling. Robinson really had no other option considering the defensive scheme he was in. Perhaps zone coverage should be illegal?

Thoughts?