[kccrow]

I'm complaining incessantly that the rule changes have had such a negative impact only on the defense, the type of defense I grew up loving and one of the reasons I became a Chiefs' fan, that I'm seriously contemplating giving up watching NFL football. I'm sure I'll watch the entirety of the Mahomes run but after that, I'm not so sure. The game has evolved into a shit show; a time where fantasy points and scoring in droves is what the brass assumes people want to see.

While I can appreciate a time where rule makers want to change the violent hits players take that may cause concussions, they shouldn't take away every hit that may cause other injuries. They have gone out of their way to protect QBs because of the shortage of competent ones. That shouldn't be the fault of NFL defenders. You don't have an All-Pro QB? Learn to develop passers better, beef up your O-Line and get a good RB to pound the football a little more. Point is, get rid of the "Most of his body weight" bullshit penalty. It's incredibly biased. Also take away the penalty for diving into a QBs legs below the knees. No other players are afforded either of the same protections on the field of play except the pretty boy that throws the ball. Defenders need to be able to come in off the edge without having to pull up to keep from hurting the pretty boys.

Defenders cannot, at any time, create contact with his hands to the head, neck, or face of an opposing player yet the only protection they are afforded reciprocally is that an offensive BLOCKER cannot do the same. What's good for one is good for all. Offensive players should also not be able to initiate contact with their hands to a defensive player in the head, neck, or face. We see a lot of missed tackles because of "great stiff-arms" by the offense. Well, those plays should be penalties on the offense and they are equivocally dangerous to the defenders.

Extend the horse collar rule to ALL players. No player, at any time, should be able to grab another player by the back of the collar and bring him down. That shouldn't be a defensive only penalty. I've seen offensive runners pull defenders down in this manner to gain an obvious advantage, similar to a stiff-arm. It's bullshit.

There needs to be a better distinction made between Pass Interference, Illegal Contact, and/or Defensive Holding and the penalties need to be less severe to help the defense a little bit. They are getting "ticky-tacked" all the way down the field.

Here is Pass Interference:

(a) Contact by a player who is not playing the ball that restricts the opponent’s opportunity to make the catch.
(b) Playing through the back of an opponent in an attempt to make a play on the ball.
(c) Grabbing an opponent’s arm(s) in such a manner that restricts his opportunity to catch a pass.
(d) Extending an arm across the body of an opponent, thus restricting his ability to catch a pass, and regardless of whether the player committing such act is playing the ball.
(e) Cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact with him, without playing the ball.
(f) Hooking an opponent in an attempt to get to the ball in such a manner that it causes the opponent’s body to turn prior to the ball arriving.
(g) Initiating contact with an opponent by shoving or pushing off, thus creating separation.

Here is Defensive Holding:

It is defensive holding if a player grasps an eligible offensive player (or his jersey) with his hands, or extends an arm or arms to cut off or encircle him.

Well, this is vague. I mean, it looks a lot like (c), (d), (e), and (f) above and could just about be the same with all of them.

Here is Illegal Contact:

Beyond the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender cannot initiate contact with a receiver who is attempting to evade him. A defender may use his hands or arms only to defend or protect himself against impending contact caused by a receiver.

Well, if they make contact beyond the five-yard zone then you know they are getting called for Holding or Interference above...

So, why doesn't the NFL actually make the rules distinguishable?

What I think needs to happen:

Pass Interference - Any contact that restricts the opponent's ability to receive a catchable football.
A 15-yard penalty from the previous spot or, if against the defense in the end zone, half the distance to the goal and an automatic first down.

This is, basically, the collegiate rule. So, (a), (b), (c), (d) and (f) all seem reasonable but shouldn't need to be explicitly defined. Offensive and Defensive PI are both 15-yard penalties (except for when DPI in the end zone).

For all intensive purposes, a football within 5 yards of a receiver that isn't more than about his height (~6 feet) over his head (I think we can assume that 3 feet reach and 3.5 feet vertical jump is about the human maximum and few players reach that in combination) should always be deemed a catchable ball. As with the collegiate rule, if there is a question as to whether or not the ball is catchable, then it is considered catchable.

Pass interference in the end-zone should be half the distance to the goal and an automatic first down because the offense cannot, under most conditions, gain the first down and getting closer to the end zone is not necessarily to the offense's advantage.

Defensive Holding - Eliminate this penalty and combine into illegal contact.

Illegal Contact - Any contact that restricts an opponent from evading the player beyond the five-yard zone but doesn't restrict his ability to receive a catchable football. This should mean cutting off the path of an opponent by making contact (PI part e), grasping or pulling an opposing player or his uniform (holding), tackling an opponent that is not a runner (defensive holding, except as in Note to current Rule 12: Article 6), hooking an opponent with an arm or arms to redirect his movement, or pushing or shoving the opposing player to gain separation (PI part g).
A 5-yard penalty from the previous spot or half the distance to the goal.

Basically, I believe defensive backs shouldn't be nailed to the cross every time they make contact with a receiver. It's going to happen, maybe even on purpose. Should it always be an automatic first down? I don't believe so. The offense already gets a replay of down and a free 5 yards. Obviously, the defense can't just run amuck and chuck receivers at will every single down or it's going to cost them in the long run. Any argument for the automatic first down then becomes relatively void.

Incidental Contact - Expand language to include contact while the ball is not in the air, most explicitly mentioning placing the hand or hands on an opponent that doesn't restrict the player's movement (hand-checking) and hand fighting during the route that occurs away from the football (doesn't impede the player from receiving a catchable football).

This would, in my opinion, at least offer the defense some remedy in the passing game in terms of committing a foul if need be without getting torched for it. Players shouldn't be getting flagged for just putting a hand on the opponent, which happens frequently when the refs want to affect outcomes.