You can be forgiven if you’ve watched an NFL preseason game this year and wondered if you accidentally got the United Nations’ feed. There are more flags on display on the floors of NFL stadiums than the U.N. has members.
Start. Stop. Start again. Stop again. St- … more of the same. Penalty after penalty, after penalty. It’s a fun-filled flag fest for the fans and players, alike. Or maybe not.
Flag on the field
The Seattle Seahawks managed to experience a decrease in accepted penalties in their second preseason game against the overmatched San Diego Chargers last Friday night. All total, they had eight penalties called against them, vs. 13 when they played the Denver Broncos in week one. This compares to Seattle’s 2013 league-most average of eight penalties per game (via nflpenalties.com). That’s right: eight penalties is progress in your 2014 NFL season — even though it’s exactly on pace for the highest average of just one year ago.
Nobody likes it. So why do it? Don’t ask Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Seahawks’ regular season week one opponent. Despite a stellar showing in his only preseason action to date against the Seahawks’ NFC West division opponent St. Louis Rams, Rodgers could only kvetch about the zebras.
“It’s way over the top; it’s just too much,” Rodgers said (via the Associated Press). “The game’s way too choppy if they’re going to call it like that.” The Packers/Rams “game” totaled 22 penalties for 171 yards — pretty much standard for today’s NFL. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher offered to break training camp that night if his team could commit seven penalties or less. They didn’t come close (10). Back to the dorms for the Rams.
The enemy of my enemy is … a zebra
Perhaps the NFL has cleverly devised a strategy to bring together their two types of viewers: in-person attendees and TV watchers. The poor nonprofit NFL is desperate to grow their television audience while not alienating their stadium fans. No longer are they on opposite sides on this one issue.
Penalty ball is no fun for anyone. But the NFL doesn’t have to try to cater to one or the other’s interests if they have a common enemy, no? Instead of devising ways to maintain the attention of both types of fans, the NFL has apparently decided to unite them in a charge against a common enemy: NFL officials.
If you thought their job was tough before …
It’s not their fault, of course. The on-field officials are doing what the league has mandated. The rise in penalties this preseason, with the new emphasis on already-existing rules, including:
- illegal contact (beyond five yards past the line of scrimmage; offense and defense),
- defensive holding,
- pass interference (offense and defense),
- illegal hands to the face (offense and defense),
have been the major culprits in the new “No Fun League.” There are other new penalties and new emphases, but I won’t go into them, lest I get flagged for delay of article.
Is there hope?
What we’ve experienced so far in 2014 is ugly. Will it get better? Maybe. There are two ways things could get better.
First, maybe this is all just a bad dream. Maybe the NFL is purposely overemphasizing these penalties and will wake up to the reality of how badly it’s impacting the game when the games really count. Maybe, just maybe, this is their intention. Perhaps they’ll instruct the zebras to back off a little with the ticky-tack calls in the regular season.
Second, maybe the players will adjust accordingly. Perhaps you, like I, had some extra time to ponder the ramifications of all the penaltiespenaltiespenalties, during one of the extra game stoppages we’ve been treated to. While I was stewing over the onslaught of yellow flags, I noticed that there seemed to be far fewer penalties for helmet-to-helmet hits, defenseless receiver hits and crown-of-helmet hits. Those three types of penalties were the subject of the NFL’s previous most recent emphasis (for player safety).
These penalties are not getting called. Why? The players have adjusted their games. Either that or the zebras are just too busy calling downfield push-offs. If it’s because the players have adjusted their games, therein lies the hope that they can similarly adjust their games to play more touchless pass defense and keep their hands away from each other’s faces.
If not, then I suspect the NFL may be trying to make rock stars out of their referees. They’re certainly grabbing the most screen time.
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