The NFL is getting roughed up over its amplified enforcemen

t of roughing-the-passer penalties that has generated head-scratching calls — and a season-ending injury to a defender trying to comply with the league's mandate not to land fully on the quarterback.In the offseason Matthias Farley Jersey , NFL owners asked the league's competition committee to better protect their prized quarterbacks after Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr broke Packers star Aaron Rodgers' collarbone in 2017.So the league dusted off a rarely invoked 24-year-old rule that outlaws defenders from landing on the quarterback with more than half of their body weight."It helps me out because I'm a quarterback," said Deshaun Watson of the Texans. "But some of the calls are just kind of crazy."So inconsistent, in fact, that Packers linebacker Clay Matthews , whose been whistled three times, suggested the league has gone soft. He argued that what constitutes a clean hit is anybody's guess nowadays.Defenders who are only allowed to target a strike zone basically consisting of the torso now must also concern themselves with breaking the quarterback's fall. Or at least doing a "gator roll" where they spin the QB as they tumble to the turf.The gator roll is "an unnatural move when you are trying to tackle a big guy" like Ben Roethlisberger or Andrew Luck, said Bengals defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. "They will shrug you off."Broncos linebacker Shane Ray said the gator roll isn't even an option much of the time."Sometimes you're at an awkward angle or you might be pushed into him," Ray said. "It's chaotic in there when you've got all these bodies flying around."Trying to keep the quarterback safe can also be dangerous to a defender, as it was Sunday when Dolphins DE William Hayes tore his right ACL trying to avoid landing on Raiders QB Derek Carr."They don't care about the rest of us getting hurt. Long as the QB is safe," fumed 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman when he retweeted a video clip of Hayes getting hurt ."Let's keep it honest, that rule is a tough rule to gauge," Dolphins defensive tackle Akeem Spence said. "Will is going to make a play, trying to sack the quarterback and then roll off at the end, not trying to put all of his weight and get a sack taken away. He ended up being hurt, and it sucks, because he's trying to protect the quarterback while still trying to make a play."There have been 34 roughing-the-passer calls so far. While that works out to just one flag for every 100 pass attempts, it represents a massive increase over previous years. There were 16 such penalties through three weeks last season and 20 the year before that.The lack of consistency and clarity is why "I don't like the rule," said Fox's Troy Aikman, whose Hall of Fame career was cut short by the battering he took during a 12-year stint as Cowboys quarterback."I think the league overreacted, and I think they will continue to look at it with the controversy that's been created," Aikman said, adding the strict interpretation of the 1995 rule "changes the outcome of games and ultimately will cost some coaches their jobs."There's only been a handful of flags, meanwhile, for players lowering their helmet, another point of emphasis, showing that players, coaches and officials have all adjusted accordingly to that rule change.Two people with knowledge of the agenda told The Associated Press that in the regularly scheduled competition committee conference call next week, the roughing-the-passer calls will be discussed. While neither anticipates a change in the rules themselves, it's possible a de-emphasizing of the "full weight" portion of the rule could occur.That point of emphasis this year has led to all kinds of contentious calls, none more prominent than Matthews' seemingly legal hit in Week 2 that wiped out a clinching interception of Kirk Cousins, who subsequently rallied the Vikings to a 29-29 tie."Roughing the Passer calls are absolutely out of control Authentic Nate Hairston Jersey ," Texans star defender J.J. Watt tweeted during the Steelers-Buccaneers Monday night game that featured four such flags.Although Matthews' hit on Cousins wasn't deemed a body weight violation, the league's emphasis on roughing calls clearly played a role in referee Tony Corrente ruling that when Matthews "hit the quarterback, he lifted him and drove him into the ground."Many critics didn't buy that explanation nor the justifications for the other calls."I love the NFL - but it's crazy the (numbers) being put up by QBs & WRs due to fact that D can't hit them anymore & can't lay hands on them downfield," tweeted Hall of Famer Kurt Warner , the architect of the Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf.""Everyone is running free the entire game (or it's a penalty)! Don't get me wrong I LOVE Offense, but better when it's a fair fight."The last two men who served as the NFL's head of officiating — Mike Pereira and Dan Blandino — said the league went too far in emphasizing roughing the quarterback and will back off soon because officials are throwing too many flags on plays where the QB isn't even in danger of getting hurt."I think we all have felt like it has gone a little too far," said Pereira, now an analyst for Fox Sports.Pereira said the NFL could tamp down the furor over the rule by having officials only throw flags when defenders lift the quarterback and drive him into the ground — although he disagrees that's what Matthews did to Cousins."We all are pretty much in agreement the Clay Matthews hit on Kirk Cousins really shouldn't be a foul, and I believe that's what the competition committee believes," Pereira said. "How literal do we need to interpret a rule?"Former NFL referee Terry McAulay, now an analyst for NBC, notes the focal point needs to be on whether the defender's hit included "unnecessary" actions. He refers to a graphic of the rule used on Sunday night's Patriots-Lions telecast."We've highlighted a couple of words. One is the word 'unnecessarily,' and it says a defender should not unnecessarily land on the quarterback," McAulay explained. "There is nothing about this play (by Matthews on Alex Smith) that is unnecessary. He's coming off a block and he makes a legal form tackle, and he just happens to end up on top of the quarterback."The graphic also notes "strive to wrap up.""That tells me that it needs to be avoidable. Well, there's nothing unavoidable about this play," McAulay said. "It just shouldn't be a foul. I understand technically that it is by rule."Broncos star Von Miller , who leads the league with 87 1-2 sacks since his rookie year in 2011, said he's not sure how he's supposed to tackle the quarterback anymore, so he'll just stick with his signature move."I like going for the ball," said Miller.Because going for the sack is becoming as perilous for the pass rusher as it is for the quarterback.The NFL conspiracy report: Week 4 Le’Veon Bell, saving himself for the Colts at Chris Ballard’s request If you were looking for in depth film breakdown, or one of my opponent scouting reports, or even a Colts-centric article, you’ve arrived at the wrong article. Welcome to the weekly conspiracy report where I, Chris Shepherd, will examine nefarious plots around the league and expose them for what they are. Now sure, I won’t be able to provide you any “proof” and no I don’t have any sources (that you know of). What follows should be treated purely as entertainment that include plausible (and not so plausible) scenarios that no one employed by NFL teams would ever admit to, I accept no responsibility for anything you do with the information I’m about to give you. In fact I accept no responsibility for anything you’re about to read, at all.In this week four expos茅 of NFL conspiratorial glory we’re going to take a look at how Le’Veon Bell is saving himself for the Colts and the evidence that points to Chris Ballard asking him to do so. Theory: Chris Ballard is working with Le’Veon Bell to bring the elite running back to the ColtsThis is a theory less about the why either man would do it and more about how they’ve done it and the evidence that supports it. What if I told you everything you think you know about what Chris Ballard is looking for in a free agent is wrong? What if I told you Chris Ballard is planning on opening Jim Irsay’s checkbook in a big way in 2019? What if I told you that Chris Ballard has been preparing us all for Le’veon Bell’s eventual arrival? By now most of us probably think we understand how Chris Ballard is going to treat free agency: spend little, give no guaranteed money and build through the draft. That’s what I have assumed too. The thing that I like most about Chris Ballard is the fact that if you actually listen to what he says and you read between the lines Youth Quincy Wilson Jersey , just a little, he’s going to tell you what he’s planning on doing. Until now we’ve heard Ballard talk often about building through the draft and spending in ways that make sense but what Chris Ballard said starting at the 13:00 minute mark in this interview with Pat McAfee is interesting. When asked if he would ever bring in big name free agents if they fit the system and culture:Ballard goes on a lot of tangents, but there are a lot of nuggets in here. First he talks a lot about building culture, directly following this answer Ballard and Reich discuss how they plan to have a tough team and how they plan to have that. Staring down week four it seemspretty obvious they’ve gone out and added guys who exemplify that culture starting with this guy:Eric Hartline-USA TODAY SportsSo the Colts have begun to build the culture they’re after, they have the guys in the locker room that are beginning to guide the locker room in that direction. So what does that say about about what Ballard said about bringing in free agents? It says that while the team wasn’t ready to absorb those personalities this year with a team full of young guys and a locker room culture that needed to be built, it says that the team will be ready to add those big free agents very soon. So how do we get to Le’Veon Bell? Well that’s really simple:Le’Veon Bell is telling us he wants to play for the Colts and it makes sense, he would upgrade the running back position, he would get to play with a good quarterback and the Colts have a ton of cap space. But if that’s all he’s looking for why isn’t he commenting on the Jets, Texans, Browns or 49ers Instagram posts? All of these teams have promising young quarterbacks, Bell would be an upgrade and the 49ers are the only team who will have less than $85 million in open cap space heading into 2019 and the 9ers will still have $69 million. Yes, the Colts have the most cap space but any of those teams could sign him and fit that criteria, yet he’s focused on the Colts, why? Because Chris Ballard has clearly informed Bell of his intention to sign him in the off season. Le’Veon Bell told all of his teammates leading up to the season that he would be back with the team before week one, so when he didn’t make good on his word his teammates were naturally upset. So what changed for Bell? Why would he tell everyone one thing and then do another? What if a rival company reached out to you and promised to make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams as long a you figured out a way to call in sick for the rest of the year and come in fresh and ready in the spring? Would you do it? Yeah, I would too. Seems like a win, win. Sure, Le’Veon probably knew that the Steelers were going to run him into the ground this year but unless he had some kind of assurance from someone, pulling this move, one that makes him look like a bad teammate could mean he could be forced to take a contract much smaller than the one the Steelers would have offered.Instead it makes far more sense that somehow, someway Chris Ballard sat back and looked at his team and he liked what was developing in the locker room. He liked what he saw from his coaches. He liked the youth and the atmosphere that has been created on West 56th street. He sat back and looked at what he has created this far and realized that he was a few play makers short of a championship caliber team. He realized this and then he realized if he could get one of those play makers in the upcoming free agency period and add two or three more with the three picks the Colts will have in the first two rounds of the 2019 draft, if he could do that, the Colts are instant contenders. We know Chris Ballard always has a plan, he’s talked about his binders quite a bit actually. I think it’s obvious that Chis Ballard opened up his 2019 free agency binder and on the first page is this man’s face:Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesIf you’re wondering about possible issues with the NFL’s tampering rules, oh grow up! It’s simple, Ballard just has to mention to his agent (Bob LaMonte) how he wants to pay Bell an obscene amount of money in 2019 as long as Bell sits the year out so he can give the Colts everything he’s got and Ballard’s agent calls up Bell’s agent (Adisa Bakari) and tells him a “funny story” he heard about his client that day. One thing leads to another and Le’Veon Bell is making googly eyes at every single Instagram post the Indianapolis Colts put up. Oh and trades? Don’t worry about a trade, Bell would have to agree to a contract and I’m sure Bakari could just give LaMonte a call and the two old friends could swap stories until Bell is convinced he just isn’t going to play this year. Ladies and gentlemen the starting running back for the 2019 Indianapolis Colts will be Le’Veon Bell, just as Chis Ballard planned it. *Once again, please note this article is purely meant for entertainment and the conversation it can create. Chris Shepherd may or may not actually believe anything above. By looking at current events through alternative viewpoints we hope to come away with a better understanding of what we’re seeing by considering something we’ve never considered. Worst case? We have a lot of fun with conspiracy theories and turn on old episodes of the X-Files while wearing our tin-foil hats.Links to the previous weeks conspiracies:Week 3: Roger GoodellWeek 2: Jon GrudenWeek 1: Colts Defense

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