Trevian Grenon- The NFL has input new rules into 2018-2019 season. The most controversial rule that is been placed states that the defensive player that is going to attempt to tackle the quarterback cannot land on the quarterback with all of his body weight. The NFL said it may “prevent” shoulder injuries for quarterbacks that are performing and also prevents other injuries as well. During the 2017-18 NFL season, many quarterbacks received injuries from hits from opposing players. It could go down as one of the worst seasons with multiple injuries that occurred. This new rule has an immediate effect on each of the individual NFL teams. Last year, there was a total of 20 roughing the passer flags in the first three weeks. This year, there have been 34 total flags thrown, and on pace to get a total of 544 roughing the passer calls. Including the other flags and the total amount of flag calls is surreal. Clay Matthews, linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, has serious problems about this new rule. He has been called for this penalty multiple times and he let the media know about it. Clay Tweeted “Unfortunately this league is going in the direction I think a lot of us don’t like. I think they are getting soft.” Clay Matthews, whom many believe is one of the best linebackers in the league, apparently doesn't like this rule. The NFL made some changes explaining what a clean tackle would be, which is beneficial for the players. This week, the NFL has only thrown two flags as there was much controversy about referees throwing the flag excessively from teams, players, and us supporters/fans.
The league has been getting better with preventing injuries as there has been a total of 0 shoulder injuries to quarterbacks. But many question if this rule was a bad rule or a beneficial rule, and others question if it’s ruining the league. This rule may ruin the league in a major way. For example, NFL players were ruthless with their tackles as helmets would pop off and more & more players would receive injuries. QBs were receiving the most popular injury, which was a shoulder/collarbone injury. In 2017 season, Aaron Rodgers was playing the vikings. QBs have a “pocket” which is also known as a “Passing Pocket”. The passing pocket concept is where the quarterback is behind his offensive tackles and the offensive lineman protect the quarterback from getting hit. Aaron Rodgers ran out of the pocket, looking for a wide receiver. As he released the ball, targeting Martellus Bennett, he was tackle and landed on with the opponent's body weight. The outcome of this tackle was Aaron rodgers injuring his shoulder, and breaking his collarbone. Overall, this led to Aaron being out for the year. This rule doesn’t have many benefits for the players, but the league is maintaining a low amount of injuries. Therefore, we can continue to watch elite NFl players play.
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