Get ready for the Legion of Boom rule

Bout damn time.

Sherman’s very smart. He (and I’m sure his coaches) recognized that the league values the “TV contract” more than the rules of the game…otherwise offensive holding by OL would be called on nearly every play. It’s not, for several reasons. Same with cut/chop blocks that injure both OL and DL and used to make defenses HATE any offense that used “zone blocking” techniques like Denver used to because it meant going after guy’s knees.

Same shit New England did in SB36.

I really hope they enforce this rule.

A lot.

I dunno, wv. The league’s actually been doing at least a BETTER job of calling the playoffs closer to the regular season officiating than they used to. Part of it is that with so many pregame hours, the networks and various sports media outlets have to keep churning out “content” and thus officiating will always be part of the story. As such, the old way of “let them play” which severely affected the outcome of games and was very controversial has become less tolerated by fans and pundits alike and the league simply wants to put out a non-controversial product that sells.

So, I would expect that while we may still see a teensy bit of “let them play”, I would be surprised if we see the Legion of Boom style allowed to be repeated in the 2014 playoffs.

Very surprised, actually.

We’ll see. The physical style of coverage (also known as holding) by DBs is really the only way left to slow down great QBs with good receivers. A good pass rush is still a solid tactic, but hitting the QB risks a flag, unless you’ve got the aim of a Marine Sniper.

The owners want more points, and more big plays on offense. The owners are the league. The rules committee, the commissioner, the refs, they’ll do what they’re told. Advertising $$$ make most decisions in the NFL.

I’d say there’s a good chance we’ll see more defensive holding calls.

Hmm… Good to know the Rams are working on it. Fisher is still on the rules committee, right?

I think the last superbowl was a disaster for the league. To have a HOF QB, and 4 very good receivers, completely shut down for 3 hours is bad for business. IMO the owners don’t want Seattle’s “style” of D to be replicated by other teams. That’s boring football. And boring doesn’t sell.

“…as explained by veteran referee Ed Hochuli, NFL officials are planning to emphasize defensive holding and illegal contact this season. Hochuli said that early in the year, when defensive backs haven’t yet learned how strictly the officials are going to call the penalties, the flags will fly frequently…”

The key here, is ‘early in the year’
they’ll call penalties.

I’ll be surprised if it happens
in the playoffs.

w
v

zn wrote:

“…as explained by veteran referee Ed Hochuli, NFL officials are planning to emphasize defensive holding and illegal contact this season. Hochuli said that early in the year, when defensive backs haven’t yet learned how strictly the officials are going to call the penalties, the flags will fly frequently…”

The key here, is ‘early in the year’
they’ll call penalties.

I’ll be surprised if it happens
in the playoffs.

w
v

I think he meant they will HAVE TO early in the year until players catch on and then after that they won’t have to call as many.

I didn’t take him as saying they would just stop calling it as much.

Yes, your interpretation is what he meant,
but I’m saying i bet the dont call them
in the playoffs cause thats just how pro sports iz –
Refs dont call penalties in the playoffs. They
just let’em play. They are not gonna
want a penalty-filled super-bowl game.

Its not black and white though. I’m sure
they are indeed trying to nudge the game
away from the muggings by the DBs,
but still, i think for the most part
come playoff time — they’ll “let’em play”.

w
v

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by wv.

Juat as long as they call more flagrant OL holding on our DL(Quinn especially)….
cuz THAT’s what I find is is more egregious during a game.

I’ve watched a lot of preseason games, and so far the refs are calling a lot of defensive holding on the DBs. Especially on slants and double moves when a WR runs by his guy. If the DB gets “grabby” at that point, he gets a flag.

I’m not certain how all of this is gonna play out. It could have a huge impact on the game. So many DBs grab guys on slants and quick look-in routes. If the refs keep throwing flags at this rate, they’re gonna break some kind of record.

I’m also seeing a lot of “hands to the face” calls against the D-lineman. Even if the hands just go to the helmet for a second, they’re getting a flag.

Winnbrad wrote:

I’ve watched a lot of preseason games, and so far the refs are calling a lot of defensive holding on the DBs. Especially on slants and double moves when a WR runs by his guy. If the DB gets “grabby” at that point, he gets a flag.

I’m not certain how all of this is gonna play out. It could have a huge impact on the game. So many DBs grab guys on slants and quick look-in routes. If the refs keep throwing flags at this rate, they’re gonna break some kind of record.

I’m also seeing a lot of “hands to the face” calls against the D-lineman. Even if the hands just go to the helmet for a second, they’re getting a flag.

I watched a few plays from the Seahawks/Chargers game yesterday and maybe they were just sending a message to the Seahawks but if some of those calls were illegal contact then the DB simply has no chance. There will be a LOT more TDs this year. Also–I noticed that “hands to the face” call a lot, and they called that during the Rams game a few times.

If they make these calls during the regular season fans will be screaming and games will take 6 hours to play.

They may call them more now–and even a little more during the season, but I don’t see what’s happening now happening then.

“As a practical matter, it’s the Legion of Boom rule. In 2013, the Seahawks brazenly committed illegal contact and holding, knowing that, if illegal contact happens on every play, the officials won’t throw a flag on every play. In an intriguing segment that aired on NBCSN’s NFL Turning Point, Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman was displaying to a teammate on the practice field techniques for concealing illegal contact.”

I watched a couple of preseason games this week on the lack of D NFL Network – Bears and Eagles from last week and the Jags last night. They did call it almost every pass play. It was ridiculously easy for any receiver to simply run into a DB who’s more than 5 yards past the LOS and out would come the flag. So, the play of the night was run into a DB and draw a flag for a FD. That said, it was a preseason game so we’ll see how far it goes once the regular season starts. If they’re looking for more scoring – this is one way to enhance that. Simply look at last night’s NFL preseason scores.

The jersey grabbing, pushing, pulling, bumping stuff has been going on for decades. Many times, it goes both ways. After all the emphasis on illegal hits and injury producing head hunting the past few seasons, this would really make it much harder on any defense to slow down any NFL passing attack. I prefer balance and a defensive game isnt’ a bad game in my opinion.