Yup, and the fans can play revisionist history and pretend the new rules were always the rules, thus the Cheatriots cheated to win yet another of their cheat-tainted titles. Fucking cheaters.drleather2001 said:The 2014 Ravens can go hug it out with the 2001 Raiders and 2003 Colts.
EvilEmpire said:Eh. Good on the Patriots for figuring out how to make the rules work for them, but I don't see a problem with this change. The Patriots may have been the first to do it, but others would have copied it anyway. End result would probably have been more pressure on the refs to properly inform teams, provide enough time, whatever. Most likely during the most tense, loudest times of the game. Just something else for refs to screw up and for people to complain about.
Exactly. Belichick is already "onto the next loophole". This one was played out anyway. Every DC in the league has probably come up with a plan to counter these substitutions, so you know Belichick would not use it next season. I can only imagine Belichick sitting in his office laughing his ass off as the rest of the league chases their tails trying to catch up with him. I also can't wait for the Ravens or the Colts to unintentionally violate this rule and have it called against them.tims4wins said:I'm sure there are going to be some unintended consequences of this - special teams formations or something like that. And if there are, you just KNOW BB is already drawing up how to exploit the new loopholes. And so next year the competition committee will be meeting to try to figure out what to do about that. Repeat ad nauseum.
The 1970s Raiders.Gambler7 said:Has there ever been a professional sports franchise that is so far ahead of its competitors and the league it plays in that they lead to the league making several rule changes over time? It's unbelievable. I get this one, to a point, but it's amazing they are able to use every advantage they can by the book, until they force the book to be changed.
Almost everyone at a high level in professional football is conservative and insecure. There are lots of seven-figure jobs at risk, especially since the average owner has the patience and maturity of an 11 year old boy. This explains the reaction to the rules and the raging hard on that some in the League have against the Pats.Gambler7 said:Has there ever been a professional sports franchise that is so far ahead of its competitors and the league it plays in that they lead to the league making several rule changes over time? It's unbelievable. I get this one, to a point, but it's amazing they are able to use every advantage they can by the book, until they force the book to be changed.
Gambler7 said:Has there ever been a professional sports franchise that is so far ahead of its competitors and the league it plays in that they lead to the league making several rule changes over time? It's unbelievable. I get this one, to a point, but it's amazing they are able to use every advantage they can by the book, until they force the book to be changed.
Dernells Casket n Flagon said:Bill Belichick is a modern day Pop Warner. Warner's innovations as a high school team playing against colleges is where a lot of our modern rule book came from.
You can line up your formations any way you want as long as you have the correct number of players on the line. The tackles could be on each number for God sakes. Let's just put Solder and Vollmer outside the numbers and put Gronk right behind Solder and throw a TE screen.( . ) ( . ) and (_!_) said:I tried the Google but couldn't find a good definition of what is considered the tackle box. Everything just says it's the space between the two tackles. That is actually a pretty subjective definition right?
Does it actually mean the space between the 2nd guy away from the ball on either side of the center? So what would stop them from lining up a center, a guard, a TE off the ball next to the guard and then a RB 10 yards away from the TE on the line of scrimmage? The RB would essentially be the tackle and be the end of the tackle box to that side of the field right? The TE would still be eligible because he lined up in the backfield. I guess the spacing isn't as good because if they do try to cover the RB (playing tackle) then the defender is closer to the TE, but instead of just running a seam the TE could release towards the middle of the field and the RB stay behind the LOS but move towards the sideline.
( . ) ( . ) and (_!_) said:I tried the Google but couldn't find a good definition of what is considered the tackle box. Everything just says it's the space between the two tackles. That is actually a pretty subjective definition right?
Does it actually mean the space between the 2nd guy away from the ball on either side of the center? So what would stop them from lining up a center, a guard, a TE off the ball next to the guard and then a RB 10 yards away from the TE on the line of scrimmage? The RB would essentially be the tackle and be the end of the tackle box to that side of the field right? The TE would still be eligible because he lined up in the backfield. I guess the spacing isn't as good because if they do try to cover the RB (playing tackle) then the defender is closer to the TE, but instead of just running a seam the TE could release towards the middle of the field and the RB stay behind the LOS but move towards the sideline.
Pop Warner wasn't really a pro coach but pretty much the entire rule book was instituted because of his innovations.Gambler7 said:Has there ever been a professional sports franchise that is so far ahead of its competitors and the league it plays in that they lead to the league making several rule changes over time? It's unbelievable. I get this one, to a point, but it's amazing they are able to use every advantage they can by the book, until they force the book to be changed.
soxhop411 said:@adamrank: NFL owners have passed the rule proposal banning Rob Gronkowski.
Congratulations, Ravens.
The Ravens crowing about this is just sad.Stitch01 said:The Ravens tweeting it is hilarious.
Changing the rule seems fine to me.
Gambler7 said:Has there ever been a professional sports franchise that is so far ahead of its competitors and the league it plays in that they lead to the league making several rule changes over time? It's unbelievable. I get this one, to a point, but it's amazing they are able to use every advantage they can by the book, until they force the book to be changed.
The Ravens crowing about is just sad.
Not a pro, but Lew Alcindor and UCLA come to mind. No dunks.
This was the big one. After his freshman year at UCLA ( where he had to play on the freshman team per rule), the NCAA said " holy crap, we need to change the rule on dunking before he plays on the varsity ". That is amazing.
gryoung said:Yeah, and then the ncaa lifted the "Lew Alcindor Rule" after he graduated. The beauty of it was that it probably made him a more complete player as it forced him to work on his hook shot which became such a deadly weapon.Not a pro, but Lew Alcindor and UCLA come to mind. No dunks.
This was the big one. After his freshman year at UCLA ( where he had to play on the freshman team per rule), the NCAA said " holy crap, we need to change the rule on dunking before he plays on the varsity ". That is amazing.
RedOctober3829 said:You can line up your formations any way you want as long as you have the correct number of players on the line. The tackles could be on each number for God sakes. Let's just put Solder and Vollmer outside the numbers and put Gronk right behind Solder and throw a TE screen.
i'd really like to see the media asking someone on the Ravens why running to the league and getting a rule changed is something to be proud of instead of a tacit admission that you got schooled.bankshot1 said:The Ravens crowing about this is just sad.
That team lost the killer swagger when Ray Lewis hung them up.
Both true and a damning indictment.Smiling Joe Hesketh said:Top comment on the Deadspin post on this:
"Baltimore took this more seriously than domestic violence."
Enormously disappointing and embarrassing, especially considering that Harbaugh is easily a top 10 coach in this League and may well be top 5. Just admit that on this day you were second best.Kevin Youkulele said:i'd really like to see the media asking someone on the Ravens why running to the league and getting a rule changed is something to be proud of instead of a tacit admission that you got schooled.
dcmissle said:Enormously disappointing and embarrassing, especially considering that Harbaugh is easily a top 10 coach in this League and may well be top 5. Just admit that on this day you were second best.
Did the NFL just outlaw the WR position?soxhop411 said:@jeffphowe: It will be a substitution foul for eligible/ineligible receivers who line up outside the tackle box.
Marciano490 said:
Which makes this all the more surprising. I've never trained with a coach who brooked any excuses. How could such a successful coach and motivator think it would be good for his team to see him take excuse-making to such a overblown extent? He's basically setting up the entire organization to always blame losses on quirks of officiating or playcalling.
Marciano490 said:
Which makes this all the more surprising. I've never trained with a coach who brooked any excuses. How could such a successful coach and motivator think it would be good for his team to see him take excuse-making to such a overblown extent? He's basically setting up the entire organization to always blame losses on quirks of officiating or playcalling.
Dan to Theo to Ben said:Did the NFL just outlaw the WR position?
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/21/john-harbaugh-ravens-are-working-on-illegal-formations/“We are working on formations – legal formations, illegal formations, unexpected formations,” Harbaugh said. “The first time we ran it, you heard [linebacker Terrell] Suggs out there saying, ‘That’s not legal, that’s not legal.’ We will not assume that the referees are going to understand or always get it right when a formation goes out on the field, so we’re working on everything.”
One would hope that the referees would get it right on every play, but Harbaugh doesn’t want to rely on hope. He wants his players to be ready even if there ref isn’t ready.
Seems like a solid use of practice time.nattysez said:I cannot get over how completely BB has gotten into Harbaugh's head.
"“We are working on formations – legal formations, illegal formations, unexpected formations,” Harbaugh said. “The first time we ran it, you heard [linebacker Terrell] Suggs out there saying, ‘That’s not legal, that’s not legal.’ We will not assume that the referees are going to understand or always get it right when a formation goes out on the field, so we’re working on everything.”
One would hope that the referees would get it right on every play, but Harbaugh doesn’t want to rely on hope. He wants his players to be ready even if there ref isn’t ready."
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/21/john-harbaugh-ravens-are-working-on-illegal-formations/
And the beauty of it is that the Pats' formation was indeed legal. Let's hope that Suggs continues to misconstrue what he sees, especially when the Ravens play the Pats.Silverdude2167 said:Seems like a solid use of practice time.
Hopefully we hear this from an announcer this season - "Man the Ravens sure are poor at tackling but I have to give them credit, they noticed an illegal formation before the refs did."
Maybe we can get them penalty flags so they can just call it themselves. You would think a major part of any defense would be recognizing what formation the offense is in.Silverdude2167 said:Seems like a solid use of practice time.
Hopefully we hear this from an announcer this season - "Man the Ravens sure are poor at tackling but I have to give them credit, they noticed an illegal formation before the refs did."
I don't think they were talking about the game, I think he was talking about in practice.... but I'm a buffoon so i could be wrong.TheoShmeo said:And the beauty of it is that the Pats' formation was indeed legal. Let's hope that Suggs continues to misconstrue what he sees, especially when the Ravens play the Pats.
Parenthetically, Ben Volin's off season of suck continues...he should have noted that "of course, Suggs got it wrong there," but that doesn't fit with the narrative of those rule bending Patriots.