Monday Musings: Examining why the NFL is going overboard with penalties
By Pete Prisco Senior NFL Columnist
It's Flagapalooza in the NFL these days.
It's the talk of the preseason, with fans outraged and the pace of play slowing to the point where it has been almost unwatchable at times.
It has to change.
It will change.
In the first week of the preseason, there were 27 illegal-contact penalties called. That's way too many. The final tally isn't in for the second week, but it didn't slow. There were 31 penalties called in the Saints-Titans game alone.
It's an irritant for sure, and I imagine it will lessen in the regular season, but for now the players and coaches I've talked with the past couple of weeks have the same attitude about it that Chip Kelly had after his team's preseason game with New England Friday night.
They aren't really fazed by it, and they all have to learn to deal with it if that's the way it's going to be called.
"Those are the rules, and we've got to play by them," Kelly said after his team's preseason game with the Patriots. "And whoever ends up being the most disciplined team in this league is going to win, but the rule is not going to change. And that's what I told those guys in the locker room. I think we had 10, and they had 11, and it seems like it's like that overall, but I don't think tomorrow or Sunday, Roger [Goodell] is going to say, 'Hey we're going to change it.' We've got to learn to not get our hands in people's faces, and we've got to understand that after five yards it's illegal contact. And if you can't play within the rules, you can't play in this league."
It will be interesting to see how teams adjust -- both the offense and the defense.
"They said they were going to be just as strict on receivers doing little things, like chicken wings, to get separation at the top of the route, so I think it will go both ways," Jackson said. "There are big-name guys out there, Darrelle Revis and Richard Sherman, guys like that. Their reputations will let them get away with it a little more. But whatever it is, we have to deal with it."
Defensive coordinators are using different approaches to try to get their secondary players to keep from using their hands after 5 yards, which is the legal contact area.
Some teams have used boxing gloves to help change the way their players play. Bringing in officials and letting them call it close during practices has also helped.
"You just have to understand they're going to call it closer after five yards," Bengalsdefensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. "We're a big press-man team, so I tell our guys they have to be good with (their) hands and feet early. When the officials worked with us, they said we did a pretty good job. We'll see. You just have to be more disciplined."
There are some who think the league's emphasis on illegal contact in the secondary is a result of Seattle beating up on Denver in the Super Bowl last February. Defensive coordinators see it a different way.
"They want a lot of points scored," Guenther said. "What will they do next? We're still going to try and make offenses miserable. But you can see what they're doing."
I contacted several front-office types, not coaches, to see what they thought about the glut of flags being thrown the first two weeks.
"It won't last," one GM said. "The games are too long and (Roger) Goodell hates that."
Said another GM when I asked if it was out of control: "What do you think? You don't need me to tell you."
What I think is that it is way overboard. But I also think it will be cut down once the regular season starts. It has to be. The flow of the game right now is horrible.