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Lazuli  2d ago (text post)   318 thread views

NFL Weekly Thread: Week 3

Let's chat about the National Football League. This week's schedule (all times Eastern):

Thu 2024-09-19 8:15PM New England Patriots @ New York Jets
Sun 2024-09-22 1:00PM Chicago Bears @ Indianapolis Colts
Sun 2024-09-22 1:00PM Denver Broncos @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sun 2024-09-22 1:00PM Green Bay Packers @ Tennessee Titans
Sun 2024-09-22 1:00PM Houston Texans @ Minnesota Vikings
Sun 2024-09-22 1:00PM New York Giants @ Cleveland Browns
Sun 2024-09-22 1:00PM Philadelphia Eagles @ New Orleans Saints
Sun 2024-09-22 1:00PM Los Angeles Chargers @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Sun 2024-09-22 4:05PM Carolina Panthers @ Las Vegas Raiders
Sun 2024-09-22 4:05PM Miami Dolphins @ Seattle Seahawks
Sun 2024-09-22 4:25PM Detroit Lions @ Arizona Cardinals
Sun 2024-09-22 4:25PM Baltimore Ravens @ Dallas Cowboys
Sun 2024-09-22 4:25PM San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams
Sun 2024-09-22 8:20PM Kansas City Chiefs @ Atlanta Falcons
Mon 2024-09-23 7:30PM Jacksonville Jaguars @ Buffalo Bills
Mon 2024-09-23 8:15PM Washington Commanders @ Cincinnati Bengals
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My biggest current pet peeve is the way quarterback slides work. The rulebook definition is:

when a runner declares himself down by:

falling to the ground, or kneeling, and clearly making no immediate effort to advance.

sliding feet-first on the ground. When a runner slides feet-first, the ball is dead the instant he touches the ground with anything other than his hands or his feet. Notes:

Defenders are required to treat a sliding runner as they would a runner who is down by contact.

A defender must pull up when a runner begins a feet-first slide. This does not mean that all contact by a defender is illegal. If a defender has already committed himself, and the contact is unavoidable, it is not a foul unless the defender makes forcible contact into the head or neck area of the runner with the helmet, shoulder, or forearm, or commits some other act that is unnecessary roughness.

A runner who desires to take advantage of this protection is responsible for starting his slide before contact by a defensive player is imminent; if he does not, and waits until the last moment to begin his slide, he puts himself in jeopardy of being contacted.

In practice, that last part isn't enforced. Defenders are expected to do a superhuman job of avoiding runner and this is ruthlessly exploited by rushing quarterbacks. They wait till the last moment, use body language that feigns a slide to cause defenders to pause, slide late and draw personal fouls, and so on.

My solution would be simply eliminating the slide rule. There is no need for an additional way to give oneself up. If it's important that a given player not be contacted, he can following the first part of the rule instead - fall to the ground and clearly make no immediate effort to advance. If this isn't physical possible because the player is running at full speed, that's something they should have considered prior to running full speed as a ballcarrier.

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