Ever since the Indianapolis Colts complained endlessly after playing like girls and getting curbstomped by the New England Patriots in the 2003 AFC Championship game, the pass interference rule in the NFL has gotten out of hand. It had a major part in deciding three (count 'em 3!) games this past weekend.
Chiefs~Texans
Cowboys~Vikings
Broncos~Jets
(insert video here)
All the talk surrounding the hard legal hits from this past weekend has kept NFL fans in the dark about a much bigger problem that needs to be discussed. This would've been the perfect week to talk about it. Damn you James Harrison (you should probably retire) and Brandon Meriweather (dude probably brings his helmet to gang fights).
I'll let you slide Dunta Robinson (sorry Smiley)....
Ay Chihuahua that's a big hit! The Pass Interference did pick up some steam from a few familiar voices on Twitter this weekend. Let's check them....
Jason Whitlock: Pass interefernce is the biggest plague in football. It's worse than the BCS.
ESPN's Sports Guy: Here's what I don't get: why don't bad teams just throw deep every down + try to get long pass interfererences? Seems like they'd hit 20%.A spot foul is just too big of a penalty for what can be, and oftentimes is, extremely minor contact. Too often teams are throwing jump balls down field, with a receiver and cornerback handfighting each other evenly, only to see the defender get flagged resulting in a 50 yard gain. It's too much. Like Sports Guy suggests, teams are designing plays in hopes of drawing the penalty. As a league, this isn't what you want. Penalties are designed to intervene when one side unfairly gains an advantage, but should remain the backstory to the actual play on the field. Having teams purposely try to draw flags penalties/fouls is against the spirit of the game. It's terrible. It's one step closer to the NBA.
You have two options when deciding how to fix the rule.
Option 1: Take a page from the college rule book, and make all Pass Interference penalties 15 yards and an automatic first down. Any infractions shy of 15 yards, should be marked at the spot. Way less complaining in the college game than in NFL you might notice.
Option 2: Instigate a minor and a major infraction. Make the major call a spot foul. Make the minor call a 10 yard penalty. Anything short of 10 yards wouldn't need a minor/major designation and would be a spot foul plus automatic first down. An automatic first down would accompany both major and minor calls as well.
I prefer Option #2 personally. I think it would be the fairest way to enforce the penalty. However, I would be very pleased with option #1 as well, in order to keep things easier, and leave less rule intrepretation for the officials, who have a hard enough job already, and take enough blame from fans and media for their team's losses.
On to the rankings....
NFL Power Rankings: Week 6 Edition
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. New York Jets
4. Atlanta Falcons
5. New England Patriots
6. New Orleans Saints
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. Philadelphia Eagles
9. Tennessee Titans
10. New York Giants
11. Miami Dolphins
12. Kansas City Chiefs
13. Green Bay Packers
14. Minnesota Vikings
15. Houston Texans
16. Washington Redskins
17. Seattle Seahawks
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
19. Cincinnati Bengals
20. Chicago Bears
21. Dallas Cowboys
22. St. Louis Rams
23. San Diego Chargers
24. Denver Broncos
25. Arizona Cardinals
26. Detroit Lions
27. Jacksonville Jaguars
28. San Francisco 49ers
29. Cleveland Browns
30. Oakland Raiders
31. Carolina Panthas
32. Biffalo Buffs
{Geek Alert}Statistical Analysis: Comparing these rankings to my previous rankings(after Week 3) and to the Evil Empire's rankings.....
Biggest Risers:
1. New York Jets +13
2. Baltimore Ravens +10
3. New York Giants +8
3. Kansas City Chiefs +8
5. St. Louis Rams +7
Biggest Fallers
1. Green Bay Packers -11
1. Houston Texans -11
1. San Francisco 49ers -11
4. San Diego Chargers -10
5. Cincinnati Bengals -9
Most Overrated Teams (compared to ESPN's Power Rankings)
1. Chicago Bears -8
2. Arizona Cardinals -7
3. Houston Texans -6
Most Underrated Teams (get this....same formula)
1. Seattle Seahawks +6
2. Miami Dolphins +5
3. Dallas Cowboys +5
Thy Dirty Shirkness
Thy Dirty Shirkness
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