Counting Tackles

Phil B has a note on how the Colts count tackles.

* One more word on tackles, and how it can be open to interpretation. According to NFL.com, the Colts’ leading tackler is now WLB Clint Session with 65 and S Antoine Bethea a close second with 64. But the Colts’ list based on the coaches’ film review has Bethea first with 79 and Session second at 59. Which to believe? It’s an age-old argument about which is more valid. The game-day folks who watch the games from press boxes maintain they are objective observers and would not inflate such numbers, the inference being that teams do this. But you counter that with the position that watching the game again means being more accurate, that football people know the game best. And I will say that the Colts have a decent track record for not over-inflating their stats, unlike some teams in the league. I see some team’s numbers, and the disparity between what they have compared to those posted on NFL.com and I don’t see how there can be such a divide. In a league where offensive numbers are broken down in so many ways, I’m not the first to suggest it would be ideal to have a system in place where tackles are determined with uniformity.

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