We need a Commissioner that is going to campaign to bring back the head slap, the clothesline tackle, the horse collar tackle, the spearing of quarterbacks and defenseless receivers, the one-bar face mask, the bounties, full pad practices with hitting and tackling, the Oklahoma drill, NFL Films' Crunch Course and the elimination of the fair catch.
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If you touch Mahomes it should be a foul imo
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It all went downhill when they added the forward pass.
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It could be blatantly and forwardly rigged against us and other team's fans will still bitch and moan. Hell, that rule could be only enforced against us all season long and other teams' fans will still claim we benefitted somehow. People are morons and will think what they want.
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It's gonna be a savage transition for a season, but ultimately teams will adjust and we won't notice anything on the field once they figure it out.

But for a year, I'm gonna loathe this. It's going to decide ballgames. But to the folks that think it's going to be hard to enforce - man, I don't think so. It's so damn obvious when we see it.

Hopefully the officials aren't too crazy about interpretation and if not, the transition will be painful but doable.
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Obviously to some extent its about the spectacle.

But really, it's about the overall impact it has. QBs are a little more deliberate about putting balls over the middle and getting guys detonated when that's a legitimate possibility. It allows pass rushers to be more impactful. It forces teams to establish the run to keep LBers honest. It makes different types of players viable (while not taking the truly good waterbugs off the field).

It makes a more rounded game. And it's not because of the hit-stick hits themselves - it's because of the fear of them.

Which is different than the hip drop. That thing is just bad. It doesn't discourage any sort of play/decision. It just hurts guys. I have nothing positive to say about that damn hawk tackle and getting it out of the league is going to be a good thing if/when they can figure out how to enforce it.
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2023 had 794 automatic first down penalties. A 25.1% increase would be 993 or just under 200 extra. There are 272 regular season games, so the rule MIGHT add 0.73 extra 1st down penalties and 11 penalty yards a game.

Ohhhh nooo. This is stupid.
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Obviously you are exaggerating but I have no problem watching backups play. They still made it to the NFL.

If the game continues to get more and more soft it will be unwatchable IMO. So, be careful what you wish for and stop being so soft is my advice to the fans and HCs that constantly favor these pussy rules.
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I agree wholeheartedly with PAChiefsGuy.

I also think the sport's aesthetics have been hurt by the excessive focus on the rules during broadcasts. Get rid of the rules analysts that nobody likes. The worst part of the game is when it gets stopped and we have to see 20 replays and the overanalyzing whether the play is legal or not.
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I have groaned about this for a couple years now.

It's less a rules problem as it is a broadcast problem.

This shit where Greg Olsen spends 20 minutes every single game complaining about calls made or not made is just AWFUL for the product.

Knock that shit off. It doesn't do anything to make your game look better. And most of the time there's no clear conclusion to be drawn either way.

Just stop focusing on the rules every broadcast and there'd be less crying about it.
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I don’t see why it has to be a savage transition. That tackle is not a natural way to tackle. The tackler has to go out of his way. There is intention when making that tackle. One can only assume the tackler is aware of the high injury rate associated with it. There is no doubt in my mind that Arden Key was trying to injure Mahomes. The game ain’t gonna miss that tackle at all. It’s not like it comes naturally.
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Coaches have been teaching it. The 'Hawk Tackle' was an answer to the penalties for going above the shoulder. So a lot of guys have been doing it for 8-10 years now; they're gonna have to 'unlearn' it.

I think you'll see it most with LBs and DBs because they try to use their speed advantage to create momentum to finish tackles against larger players. By and large, DL will be able to stop pretty much immediately; as you noted, it's not a natural motion, especially for a big guy who isn't in full flight.

but for a dude on the run towards the sidelines who sees someone getting near the sticks, that's going to be something he's been doing to stop their momentum (instead of the 'his stick' flying dive tackle) for a few years now. It's going to take some time to get those guys to stop doing that.
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Good point that coaches have been teaching it.
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The funny part of this is they've put so much focus on it that if they don't show a hundred replays of a close call fans are convinced they got it wrong and didn't want us to see it.
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So what?

You listen to them bitch and moan for a season or two and then that goes away.

First step is recognizing the problem and the way these games are broadcast is a HUGE part of that.
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