ESPN article on how to improve defensive play in NFL

[LA_Panther]

#6 - Let the defense play. It's fugging football for God's sake

[iamhubby1]

    Right now the Offenses have the advantage. They have most of the speed, and they have rules slanted in their favor. Slowly, Defenses will be getting a tad smaller, so they can get faster. In a few years, Ds will start to catch up. Until then, Ds will need to play damm near perfect to slow down these Os.

 

    But yeah, right now. All the speed is on Offense. And Defenses just can't keep up. Give them time, Ds will get there.

 

    Then, in 5 years when all these Ds are smaller. Some coach is going to say, "Hey, let's just run power all over their skinny azzes." And we could go back to power football once again. Or not.

 

    

[DaveThePanther2008]

20 hours ago, trueblade said:

I find it interesting I've heard a similar goals from Rivera, specifically the 17 points. This ain't 85 anymore.

As long as offense = ratings and ratings = money, I don't see the incentive for the owners to make any of these rule changes. Teams with defensive minded head coaches need to understand and adapt to more high tempo, wide open offenses.

That's debatable.  Seeing a good defensive battle is as entertaining as well.  The rules need to be equal so both sides of the ball are on the same level.   Also what is so wrong with a game with under 40 points.   If you want a lot of scoring.  Go to an Arena game. 

Look at this forum.   We probably have too very very good CB but due to the rules they can't do but so much. All you hear is Bradberry suck or this CB or that CB is terrible.  It could also be these terrible rules keep them from playing a better brand of football. PI against the offense is a rare a penalty.  We got buried by one against Pittsburgh.  I believe their 2nd offensive TD the receiver clearly pushed off. 

It's a game.  Nowadays teams just stack up on offensive talent and pray their defense holds up better than the other teams defense.  Why build an elite defense when everything is favorable to the offense. 

The game has over-evolved.   

[Sasquatch]

21 hours ago, SCO96 said:

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/286783/want-to-save-nfl-defense-these-five-rules-might-even-the-playing-field

There are 31 quarterbacks -- THIRTY-ONE -- completing at least 60 percent of their passes. Sixteen of them have at least 15 touchdown passes after nine weeks and 16 wide receivers are on pace for 100 receptions. Statistics that were once milestones have become business as usual.

"[The NFL] made it that way; it’s what they want," said Champ Bailey, a 12-time Pro Bowl cornerback. “I look at it now and think if you’re on defense, they don’t let you do a damn thing to stop it. It's not a fair fight anymore."

This article is pretty long but I recommend reading it if you enjoy defensive football. I'll list the suggestions below.

1. Make illegal contact a five-yard penalty, not an automatic first down

“The punishment doesn’t fit the infraction. You stop somebody on a third-and-12 and a flag goes down for a touch foul 25 yards from the play and it’s an automatic first down. Let defenses play second-and-5, third-and-5," said ESPN NFL analyst Matt Bowen, a former safety who played in 77 games in his seven-year career with the Rams, Packers, Redskins and Bills

2. Expand the chuck zone to 10 yards

Denver Broncos defensive back Chris Harris Jr. said “that one would work right now, right this second, but that’s why (the league) will never do it because they know it would work. That's a fair fight, I'd love that.”

3. Enforce downfield blocking rules

Just seek an opinion on this one these days and defensive coaches around the league say -- loudly -- offenses are repeatedly scoring touchdowns on plays, especially run-pass option plays, that should be flagged as penalties because linemen are “four, five, six yards down the field,” Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe said.

The rule is on the books “and they just need to call it,” Wolfe said. “The linebacker has no chance, he’s playing run because the linemen are run blocking down the field before the throw.”

4. Enforce offensive pass interference on pick plays

“That one is totally off,” Bailey said. “(Offenses) are picking every play in a bunch formation, and in the red zone, and offense and defense are committing the same amount, but for every three or four on defense called, you might get one on offense. Just call it. Especially in the middle of the field where the umpire used to be.”

5. Add an eighth official to crew

“But that middle of the field area where the umpire was is where a lot of these fouls are getting missed,” Jeff Fisher said. “The eighth official can then handle all that stuff in the middle of the field where the umpire used to be. College puts guys there, they’re used to playing it, we need to put that back, that guy on the defensive side. We have the feeder system, guys are already officiating that area of the field in college.

“Also flip the referee and the umpire, put the referee looking into the face of (a right-handed quarterback),” Fisher said. “ ... Then the referee has a better view of hits on the quarterback because he’s not looking through the back of the quarterback and the umpire has a better view too

-----

“Look, when I was with the Bears (1986-1995), we had a goal board -- hold a team to less than 17 points, 200 yards passing, 40 percent completions," said Dave McGinnis, who spent 30 years in the NFL. “Hell, that’s a quarter now, now your board would be 35 points, 500 yards and 65 percent passing. Defensive guys are just hanging on right now and they don’t have tenure, you know. People are going to get fired year after year because their hands are tied.”

Bailey said: “You can’t touch the quarterback, you can’t touch the receiver ... there isn’t much left ... You have to play top down, make tackles in front of you, catch, tackle, catch, tackle, don’t let anything over your head and close it down in the red zone. That’s all you have.”

Any thoughts on this? Could you see the current NFL adopting "any" of these suggestions? Do you think any of the above suggestions are bad for the game?

None of that improves defensive play. It just changes rules and improves stats to make it look like it's better. That's the same thing they've been doing for the offense over the more recent years. Develop mastery of current techniques or develop new innovative techniques are ways of  improving play. 

[GoobyPls]

That downfield blocking rule is never ever called, even though it’s rampant. Which sucks cause linebackers need to read the lineman.

[Move the Panthers to Raleigh]

Bring back the 15 yard penalty for PI too. The whole spot-of-the-foul bullshit has made it way too easy to get down the field.

[Move the Panthers to Raleigh]

I do miss the days when field position was very important

[electro's horse]

2 hours ago, Sasquatch said:

None of that improves defensive play. It just changes rules and improves stats to make it look like it's better. That's the same thing they've been doing for the offense over the more recent years. Develop mastery of current techniques or develop new innovative techniques are ways of  improving play. 

letting them bump for ten yards absolutely improves defensive play, because they'll actually be able to play. remember that rule changed after 2004 when polian was tired of the colts getting BTFO by the patriots every playoffs.

And the offensive pick plays absolutely have to start getting called.

Although I really don't think these thigns will happen until the current crop of HoFer's retire. After Rogers, Brees, and Brady go, they'll give defenses the edge again.

[Jangler]

17 hours ago, arbnranger said:

I guess I’m not seeing where the negativity towards scoring is coming from.

Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved a bad ass, hard hitting defense that says “Let’s Hunt” (Ray Lewis) 

Ronnie Lott, Steve Atwater and John Lynch were heroes when I was a kid.

Hard hits and a great defense is exciting but let’s not lie to ourselves and pretend  that a high powered offense isn’t as well. 

You can be a “hardcore fan” and like scoring as much as you like defense. 

Times change and right now the rules are obviously skewed to give the offense the advantage. 

 

From the beginning....there was defense, so you loved the high scoring game of the week, (which was usually on MNF)...weird. now, a defensive game is because the offense sucks.

[electro's horse]

I do love how during the heyday of the Legion of Boom they basically ignored all the pass interference rules and dared the refs to call DPI every play.

and it worked.

[electro's horse]

another thing they could do is take away the offense's ability to control the clock so much. Force runoffs, change how out of bounds rules work, that kind of thing.

As it stands right now, the offense can outlast the defense just from a fatigue standpoint. No matter how good your corners are, its more tiring for them than the WR who knows where he's going. Eventually the defense will wear out.

This happened recently in the super bowl. One team had a huge lead in the fourth quarter, and then just fell apart. Can't remember the score though, or the team who blew the lead for the life of me.

Oh well. Maybe i'll remember. 

[Sasquatch]

1 hour ago, electro's horse said:

letting them bump for ten yards absolutely improves defensive play, because they'll actually be able to play. remember that rule changed after 2004 when polian was tired of the colts getting BTFO by the patriots every playoffs.

And the offensive pick plays absolutely have to start getting called.

Although I really don't think these thigns will happen until the current crop of HoFer's retire. After Rogers, Brees, and Brady go, they'll give defenses the edge again.

Disagree. Changing the way penalties are interpreted or called does not constitute improvement in play because the PLAYERS are doing nothing different.

The NFL has made lots of rule changes to try and get the shoot-outs many fans like. Basically makes it easier to pass. AT the same time, they seek to retain QB rating systems that can be used to compare modern QBs to early year QBs and proclaim who is the GOAT. 

[electro's horse]

1 hour ago, Sasquatch said:

Disagree. Changing the way penalties are interpreted or called does not constitute improvement in play because the PLAYERS are doing nothing different.

do you really believe the way rules are called or aren't called does not change how players play

[run-run-pass-punt]

You need to have balance in order to have interesting competition. The NFL, ironically, understands that on a league-wide perspective, but in the relationship between offenses and defenses, they've lost the plot.

Also, the more common something is, the less value it has. Scoring in today's NFL is devalued too much because of its frequency.