Williams, Bowman and now, Sherman Rule

http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/7/20/5919583/mike-pereira-illegal-contact-defensive-holding-points-of-emphasis

Figured we'd all be interested in this.

Many will wonder, if properly enforced, how much these rule changes and more enforced rules could affect Seattle's zone blocking technique and now, the monster advantage the Hawks have in the secondary, especially IN Seattle. Will this truly be a point of emphasis all season long? Or more like a no-smoking beach law that is never enforced after the first week of installing and the message being delivered (during that week only)?

Hopefully this rule/rule enforcement isnt fake...because everything else relating to dick sherm is

well, this changes my stance on who is the best team in the league now

I'm curious how the Williams' rule will affect Seattle's zone-blocking techniques and now, especially, how the (Dick) Sherman rule will affect their secondary.

http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/7/20/5919583/mike-pereira-illegal-contact-defensive-holding-points-of-emphasisFOX

Sports referee analyst Mike Pereira tweeted that illegal contact and defensive holding are among several points of emphasis for the 2014 season.

 Tweet Share on Twitter (20)Share Share on Facebook (93) Share Share with 49ers friends 78 Comments

FOX Sports analyst, and former NFL VP of Officiating, Mike Pereira had some interesting tweets last night while in attendance at the league's officiating clinic. Pereira mentioned various areas where the league would have "points of emphasis" for the 2014 season. A "point of emphasis" is basically taking an existing rule and doing a better job of enforcing it to the letter of the law.

Mike Pereira ✔ @MikePereira Follow Last time the NFL had this as a major emphasis was 2004 and the number of illegal contact fouls went from 79 to 191.8:42 PM - 18 Jul 2014

Mike Pereira ✔ @MikePereira Follow NFL says they are offsetting this emphasis with an emphasis on calling offensive pass interference. Not an even trade in my opinion.8:46 PM - 18 Jul 2014

Mike Pereira ✔ @MikePereira Follow Honestly, I don't remember there being so many points of emphasis. Also, false starts, taunting, and others. I cover more later.9:07 PM - 18 Jul 2014

Let's just call this what it is...the Sherman Rule. IF the NFL is serious about actually enforcing their own rules (finally), this could have profound effects for press-DB's who rely heavily on this tactic well beyond 5 yards. As it stands right now, even if there is P.I. a ref usually reverts to the initial holding prior to the pass and only calls a 5 yard penalty and an automatic first down. No biggie. Hawks/Ravens know 9 out of 10 times this won't be called at all is there is no risk. The REAL question is if this will actually be enforced...and for how long...and in what stadiums? Most coaches just want to know what paramaters to coach within prior to the game. Obviously, there is an outcry here b/c this rule has no been enforced and has not been enforced equally for every team.

Here is a look at the illegal contact and defensive holding penalties from the NFL rule book:

Section 4 - Legal and Illegal Contact With Eligible Receivers

LEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS
Article 1 - Legal Contact Within Five Yards.Within five yards of the line of scrimmage, a defensive player may chuck an eligible receiver in front of him. The defender is allowed to maintain continuous and unbroken contact within the five-yard zone, so long as the receiver has not moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS
Article 2 - Illegal Contact Within Five Yards. Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

ILLEGAL CONTACT BEYOND FIVE-YARD ZONE
Article 3 - Illegal Contact Beyond Five-Yard Zone. Beyond the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may use his hands or arms only to defend or protect himself against impending contact caused by a receiver. If the receiver attempts to evade the defender, the defender cannot initiate contact that redirects, restricts, or impedes the receiver in any way.

INCIDENTAL CONTACT BEYOND FIVE-YARD ZONE
Article 4 - Incidental Contact Beyond Five-Yard Zone. Beyond the five-yard zone, incidental contact may exist between receiver and defender as long as it does not materially affect or significantly impede the receiver, creating a distinct advantage.

DEFENSIVE HOLDING
Article 6 - Defensive Holding. It is defensive holding if a player grasps an eligible offensive player (or his jersey) with his hands, or extends an arm or arms to cut off or encircle him.

Originally posted by NCommand:
I'm curious how the Williams' rule will affect Seattle's zone-blocking techniques and now, especially, how the (Dick) Sherman rule will affect their secondary.

http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/7/20/5919583/mike-pereira-illegal-contact-defensive-holding-points-of-emphasisFOX

Sports referee analyst Mike Pereira tweeted that illegal contact and defensive holding are among several points of emphasis for the 2014 season.

 Tweet Share on Twitter (20)Share Share on Facebook (93) Share Share with 49ers friends 78 Comments

FOX Sports analyst, and former NFL VP of Officiating, Mike Pereira had some interesting tweets last night while in attendance at the league's officiating clinic. Pereira mentioned various areas where the league would have "points of emphasis" for the 2014 season. A "point of emphasis" is basically taking an existing rule and doing a better job of enforcing it to the letter of the law.

Mike Pereira ✔ @MikePereira Follow Last time the NFL had this as a major emphasis was 2004 and the number of illegal contact fouls went from 79 to 191.8:42 PM - 18 Jul 2014

Mike Pereira ✔ @MikePereira Follow NFL says they are offsetting this emphasis with an emphasis on calling offensive pass interference. Not an even trade in my opinion.8:46 PM - 18 Jul 2014

Mike Pereira ✔ @MikePereira Follow Honestly, I don't remember there being so many points of emphasis. Also, false starts, taunting, and others. I cover more later.9:07 PM - 18 Jul 2014

Let's just call this what it is...the Sherman Rule. IF the NFL is serious about actually enforcing their own rules (finally), this could have profound effects for press-DB's who rely heavily on this tactic well beyond 5 yards. As it stands right now, even if there is P.I. a ref usually reverts to the initial holding prior to the pass and only calls a 5 yard penalty and an automatic first down. No biggie. Hawks/Ravens know 9 out of 10 times this won't be called at all is there is no risk. The REAL question is if this will actually be enforced...and for how long...and in what stadiums? Most coaches just want to know what paramaters to coach within prior to the game. Obviously, there is an outcry here b/c this rule has no been enforced and has not been enforced equally for every team.

Here is a look at the illegal contact and defensive holding penalties from the NFL rule book:

Section 4 - Legal and Illegal Contact With Eligible Receivers

LEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS
Article 1 - Legal Contact Within Five Yards.Within five yards of the line of scrimmage, a defensive player may chuck an eligible receiver in front of him. The defender is allowed to maintain continuous and unbroken contact within the five-yard zone, so long as the receiver has not moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS
Article 2 - Illegal Contact Within Five Yards. Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

ILLEGAL CONTACT BEYOND FIVE-YARD ZONE
Article 3 - Illegal Contact Beyond Five-Yard Zone. Beyond the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may use his hands or arms only to defend or protect himself against impending contact caused by a receiver. If the receiver attempts to evade the defender, the defender cannot initiate contact that redirects, restricts, or impedes the receiver in any way.

INCIDENTAL CONTACT BEYOND FIVE-YARD ZONE
Article 4 - Incidental Contact Beyond Five-Yard Zone. Beyond the five-yard zone, incidental contact may exist between receiver and defender as long as it does not materially affect or significantly impede the receiver, creating a distinct advantage.

DEFENSIVE HOLDING
Article 6 - Defensive Holding. It is defensive holding if a player grasps an eligible offensive player (or his jersey) with his hands, or extends an arm or arms to cut off or encircle him.

If they enforce these rules to the letter, Seattle is f**ked.

Originally posted by WINiner:

If they enforce these rules to the letter, Seattle is f**ked.

I see this definitely putting a damper on their style of play, no question about it. Sherman was already the second-most flagged DB in the league last year.

Anyone with two eyes can see that Seattle's "aggressiveness" on defense basically means "hold and hand check like there's no tomorrow." Last year they relied on the fact that the refs wouldn't flag it every play.

This year, they're going to have to figure something else out. I bet ol' Cheating Pete is sweating bullets right about now.

Originally posted by baltien:

Originally posted by WINiner:
If they enforce these rules to the letter, Seattle is f**ked.

I see this definitely putting a damper on their style of play, no question about it. Sherman was already the second-most flagged DB in the league last year.

Anyone with two eyes can see that Seattle's "aggressiveness" on defense basically means "hold and hand check like there's no tomorrow." Last year they relied on the fact that the refs wouldn't flag it every play.

This year, they're going to have to figure something else out. I bet ol' Cheating Pete is sweating bullets right about now.

they're f**ked anyway because we are coming like a motherf**ker this year.....

NFL is a joke. Their response to all the b******t calls that happened last year is to try and throw more flags this year.

Originally posted by SportsFan:
NFL is a joke. Their response to all the b******t calls that happened last year is to try and throw more flags this year.

Ya joke... they're only killing it. MLB used to be America's pass time...

It's hard to be critical of the NFL for their business model.

Originally posted by WINiner:
If they enforce these rules to the letter, Seattle is f**ked.

They can't enforce them to the letter, it is impossible.

How can you tell from 15 yards away whether or not two athletes sprinting next to each other are interfering with each other? It is pure guesswork.

Sherman gets his grabs in very quickly, you can't clearly see it, that is why he gets away with it. A short, quick tug, will slow a receiver down just enough to impede his route, but it won't knock him off balance, so you won't actually see anything, the receiver will just look a little bit slower moving.

Originally posted by BrianGO:

Originally posted by WINiner:
If they enforce these rules to the letter, Seattle is f**ked.

They can't enforce them to the letter, it is impossible.

How can you tell from 15 yards away whether or not two athletes sprinting next to each other are interfering with each other? It is pure guesswork.

Sherman gets his grabs in very quickly, you can't clearly see it, that is why he gets away with it. A short, quick tug, will slow a receiver down just enough to impede his route, but it won't knock him off balance, so you won't actually see anything, the receiver will just look a little bit slower moving.

If it is obvious to me at home, I am sure a ref will see the majority.

Well, I'm just glad they're going to start calling those roll up plays a bit more close. That play could be a career ender for Williams and if you're an O-Linemen making your bones perpetrating that style; it could be a career ender for them to through some sort of retaliatory gesture..... Suh style.

Originally posted by WINiner:
If it is obvious to me at home, I am sure a ref will see the majority.

It's only obvious to us at home, because we have a camera angle above the play, and slow motion replays. You can't throw a red flag for a pass interference that was not called, no matter how obvious it was on the replay.

Originally posted by baltien:

Originally posted by WINiner:

If they enforce these rules to the letter, Seattle is f**ked.

I see this definitely putting a damper on their style of play, no question about it. Sherman was already the second-most flagged DB in the league last year.

Anyone with two eyes can see that Seattle's "aggressiveness" on defense basically means "hold and hand check like there's no tomorrow." Last year they relied on the fact that the refs wouldn't flag it every play.

This year, they're going to have to figure something else out. I bet ol' Cheating Pete is sweating bullets right about now.

Cheat is going to have to figure a new way to cheat. Never under estimate an experienced cheater like him. He's done it at the collage and pro level. The only thing I hope for is for him to finally get caught handing out bounties for hurting our players.