A week ago, we thought it would be easy to spot a violation of the inevitable hip-drop tackle ban. Now? We don’t know what to think.
The confusion started on Monday. After the rule was passed, we posted a story with a photo of Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson hip-drop tackling Ravens tight end Mark Andrews. The Bengals contacted us to point out that, under the rule as written, the Wilson tackle would not have been a violation.
Now, the NFL informs PFT that the Wilson tackle would have been a violation — even though it was not included in the reel of violations displayed at Monday’s press conference regarding the new rule.
So, basically, we don’t know what to think at this point.
The rule contains multiple elements. First, the defensive player grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms. Second, the defensive player unweights himself “by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body.” Third, the defensive player lands on and traps the runner’s leg(s), at or below the knee.
On Monday, Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay told reporters that the NFL wants a flag to be thrown only if the officials see all elements of the foul in real time. That won’t be easy to do, especially with most violations happening in the cluster of legs, arms, and torsos that is the tackle box.
The bulk of the enforcement apparently will come from the NFL imposing discipline after the fact, with the players appealing to one of the two hearing officers, Derrick Brooks and James Thrash.
The practical problem, as it relates to the integrity of the game, is that enforcement via penalties will become hopelessly inconsistent. And it will become another foul that either will or won’t be called in a key moment of a key game, fueling the potential perception that the fix is in.
Why even make it a penalty? Why not just make it something for which players are fined? Instead of accepting the “shit happens” defense to the inability of officials to affirmatively see all elements of the violation as they happen, defer the entire enforcement mechanism to league-office discipline.
