Joe Starkey’s mailbag: Will NFL’s ludicrous QB protection penalties actually result in more violent hits?
Joe Starkey / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Welcome to Joe Starkey's mailbag, where the Post-Gazette columnist and 93.7 The Fan radio host answers your questions about sports, life, Lawrence McCutcheon and everything in between. If you want to ask Joe a question, tweet him at @JoeStarkey1 or email him at [email protected]. On to the questions …
We begin today with a slight change in format. I will post reader comments to a series of tweets I unleashed late Monday night while watching a farce of a football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets.
As keen NFL observer Field Yates posted afterward:
“Scrimmage yards leaders from tonight’s game
1 — Penalties: 204
2 — Breece Hall: 169
3 — Ray Davis: 152”
There were 22 accepted penalties (never mind the unaccepted ones) worth more than 200 yards — most in the NFL this season — lighting up social media and basically ruining an important and entertaining game. The calls ranged from pointless to ridiculous to historically preposterous. I could barely watch and could not enjoy the good plays because I reacted to every one of them like some sort of Pavlovian dog, expecting a flag after each one.
Usually, I was right.
So instead of talking about another successful Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary pass, or Josh Allen’s incredible exploits, we’re talking about referees. One player, the Jets’ Javon Kinlaw, was penalized for “improper conversation with an official.”
I wish I was kidding.
The worst call of all, in my estimation, was roughing the passer against Bills defender AJ Epenesa, who actually sought to REDUCE the impact on Rodgers as he tackled him. This is tackle football, right? Even Rodgers ridiculed the call.
Speaking of the officiating overall, Rodgers said, “It seemed a little ridiculous. Yeah, some of them seemed really bad. Including the roughing the passer on me. That’s not roughing the passer.”
Anyway, I sent out a series of tweets like this one: “This is one of the most embarrassingly officiated nationally televised games in nfl history.”
Some comments …
Phab mellow, @PhishNQuips: Both sides. Have made this game unwatchable. It has not ended. From Absurd to who cares anymore!?? People just goin to bed in a game that was very watchable.
Jay, @Crossland895: Bring the replacement refs!
The Desert Bull, @TheSensation61: I just turned it off….the NFL can’t possibly want this.
Jeffrey Moschgat, @moschgatj: Totally unwatchable.
DAn.Truth.O, @DAnTruthO: Pens won … thankfully didn’t watch MNF.
Squirrely Yinzer, @Pitt_Squirrel: Dude wasn’t even looking at the right sideline on the one call. (Starkey note: Yinzer is right — one official was facing the wrong way on a call.)
Euro, @euroclydon__: “Dr. Starkey, what has happened to this league?”
MoparNZ, @NickZ2317: how dare you … don’t you know people tune it to see the zebras.
Matthew D’Onofrio, @onofrio_matthew: Why are they still trying to play football at this point? It’s actually silly now…the kickoff rule is a joke, the weak penalties, etc…just play 7 on 7 from midfield and call it a day! Come on!
Ron Piche, @Pghfan21: NFL has a massive penalty problem.
DM, @munceTex: They can’t make a confident call so they have to double check. … It is ridiculous.
Starkey: Yes, I forgot about that — the endless conferences after calls. And the reviews. It was about as bad as I’ve seen it, but that’s the NFL these days. Commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t easily embarrassed — he knows that absolutely nothing is going to keep people from watching the NFL — but even he had to be mortified by this debacle.
Starkey, @JoeStarkey1: Yes, but back to the old “weight on the quarterback” call. What’s the deal with that?
Starkey: I’m glad you asked, Joe, and I hope you’re well. It might be the worst rule in NFL history. The fundamental issue here is that in order to tackle somebody, you pretty much have to fall on them. It’s part of the deal. Like, if you’re going to drink a glass of water, the water is headed for your stomach. It’s kind of unavoidable.
I get the spirit of the rule, sort of: You can’t pile drive or needlessly try to bury the quarterback six feet into the turf. We all know what that looks like. We get it. But you need to be able to bring him to the ground, and that might necessitate falling on him.
Here’s the NFL’s asinine rule: “When tackling a passer who is in a defenseless posture (e.g., during or just after throwing a pass), a defensive player must not unnecessarily or violently throw him down or land on top of him with all or most of the defender's weight.”
It’s the “all or most” part that boggles the mind. How does one judge that? What if the defender only uses 49% of his body weight?
The rule, of course, is intentionally vague so as to protect the officials on calls. If nobody knows what the rule means, how can we blame them for getting it wrong? Unfortunately, random enforcement is altering games and thus seasons. You saw it in the Steelers game the other day when a Justin Fields interception was wiped out by the “all or most” rule. That call might have kept Fields in the game for the second half.
Defenders now find themselves in no-win situations that could cost somebody a job. If you were watching Bengals-Giants the other night, you might have seen a Giants defender let up on Joe Burrow when it appeared he had Burrow tied up. Burrow sprang loose and made a play. NBC’s Cris Collinsworth accurately observed that the defender seemed scared of getting flagged.
Or, this could go the other way. And, frankly, if I were coaching defense, this is what I would be telling my players: “If they’re going to call us for simple form tackles on the quarterback, we might as well take the most violent shot possible early in the game. It’s 15 yards, either way.”
That would be Goodell and the owners getting what they deserve.
Donald Hilenbrant, @Hildebeest24: Good morning, Joe. How close do you realistically think we were to seeing Russ Wilson at halftime? The roughing call was questionable. And that was a horrible throw that I thought could make Mike Tomlin think about it.
Starkey: We shall never know, Dr. H, as I’m sure Mike Tomlin will not shed light on his inner thoughts from Sunday’s game when he speaks to the media today. My guess is that he must have at least been thinking about it. If that interception stands, Fields goes to halftime trailing 7-6 with a 44 passer rating. At the very least, I’d think, Tomlin would have had a quick hook in the second half. You simply cannot lose to a pathetic Raiders team. You take drastic measures to avoid that fate.
Iron City, @IronCity1933: Trekked out to Las Vegas to see Steelers game Sunday. Had end zone seats, second level. First thing I said to wife was that we had best view of flags. After every play I scanned field for flags and had good idea what they probably were. That is how the game has become.
Starkey: Agreed. I forget which game I was watching a few weeks ago, but I just turned it off. Unwatchable crap. What a shame that it’s ruining people’s experiences when they’re spending the kind of money you must have spent.
SevenTenSplit, @JM072687681415: Are most hockey fans rooting for or against Ovechkin to break Gretzky’s goal scoring record?
Starkey: That’s an interesting and unanswerable question. I’m sort of hoping Gretzky keeps the record. How about you?
gmaster121970, @gmaster12141969: Greetings, Captain Starkey. If they voted now, would TJ Watt win NFL MVP?
Starkey: No, and I’m not even sure he would win NFL Defensive Player of the Year — have you noticed that even when Watt deserves to win that award, he usually doesn’t get it? It’s outrageous. Watt should at least be a two-time winner and probably a three-time winner of that award. As for MVP ... anybody for Baker Mayfield?
Jon kramer, @golfkramerica: Is there any chance you can make WonderTwin upload a video clip of Pomp singing his emboldened and passionate version of "I've done everything for Mullsie, and he's done nothing for me !!!"name your price, i will pay double !!!
Starkey: Yes, Dr. J, I can arrange that. Free of charge.
Ed Helinski, @MrEd315: What grade would you assign the play of Justin Fields so far this season for the Steelers?
Starkey: I’d give him a B-, Mr. Ed. I start everyone with a C. If they’re better than I thought they’d be, they move up. And vice-versa. If I would have told you Fields would be completing 66% percent of his passes for five TDs and one interception, with a 93.9 passer rating, plus 250 yards and five TDS on the ground, you would have signed up, right? On the other hand, he’s gotten lucky that some calamitous plays haven’t resulted in turnovers (think of the lateral to Jaylen Warren or the pick wiped out by roughing the passer against the Raiders).
Jordan Gatten, @JGATTZZ: Greetings Dr. Starkey. I’m just curious on what happened to the word incrinculent? I was fascinated on its upward trajectory and was excited to see it get in the Webster’s Dictionary. I rarely hear you using the word anymore. Thanks, Jordan
Starkey: Sadly, Dr. G, incrinculent won’t be in the dictionary. However, it has become a significant part of the American lexicon. I can’t tell you how many places I’ll go and hear it. The high point, of course, was when Pirates manager Derek Shelton used it in a postgame press conference. Who woulda thunk it?
Nutting Sucks, @nuttingthoughts: Do you have any pictures of Mullsy with hair follicles?
Starkey: I’ll take a look and get back to you.
Skip Bittman, @BittmanSkip: Why does Najee Harris run like a slug one week and a tank the next?
Starkey: I’m not sure — and I wouldn’t ask him. He seems extremely sensitive to the topic. I do actually enjoy it when Najee carries his intense and combative running style into press conferences, but I wonder if any of his anger is reserved for his own franchise, which didn’t think he was worthy of a fifth year or any guaranteed money beyond this season. Their actions were far more critical of him than any words from fans or media.
Salvadore, @SalvadoreYoga: How can the Steelers defend an Aaron Rodgers hail mary pass next Sunday Night? Too soon?
Starkey: Here’s an idea, Dr. S, and somebody should have told Bills coach Sean McDermott, who seems to have a lot of trouble defending other team’s desperation passes: RUSH MORE THAN TWO DEFENDERS SO RODGERS DOESN’T HAVE TIME TO LOAD UP!
Thomas Zielke, @ThomasZielke: Will the Pirates sign Paul Skenes to a long-term contract this offseason?
Starkey: I doubt it.