Everyone assumed Clay Matthews III would have to compete with A.J. Hawk as the alpha dog when the Green Bay Packers drafted him 2009. All the youngest Clay has done has been win a Super Bowl (2010), make six Pro Bowls, and record 80 sacks.
The Packers fell 31-17 to the Washington Redskins, after tying with division rival Minnesota last week. It was the second tie in the NFL this season. Against the Vikings, Matthews was flagged for what was deemed as “unnecessary roughness,” while following through on his tackle of quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The NFL said the same thing after Cleveland's Miles Garrett received his own penalty against Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger on opening weekend. Garrett's call gave Pittsburgh new life on a stalled drive, and the Steelers ended up scoring a touchdown a few plays later.
The league later apologized, indicating both hits were legal, and the neither Matthews or Garrett should have been penalized.
The new rule indicates that defenders may not land with their full body weight on the quarterback when tackling. Matthews did not go high, or low, and additionally wrapped his arms around Cousins’ waist, right as Cousins was releasing his throw.
This week against Washington, Matthews was flagged again. Matthews went textbook shoulder to shoulder, sacking Cousins’ off-season replacement, Alex Smith. This time, Matthews came straight through, and planting Smith directly into the turn with a textbook tackle.
Flag.
Matthews came straight-on, flattening Smith, and landed with his entire bodyweight. The reasoning given by referee Ed Wrolstad to the press after the game was:
"...If you've got a shoulder into him and then landed on him with most of his body weight off him or released him when he went down, then he would have been OK. But in my judgment, I ruled that he landed on him with most or all of his body weight there.”
I guess we are going to be resorting to putting yellow jerseys on quarterbacks, as if they were in a live practice in front of 70,000 people. You could not put them in red, since Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Arizona, Houston, Washington, and San Francisco have a red jersey in their arsenal.
At least a yellow jersey in the NFL would be the antithesis of the Tour de France, whose governing body seemingly encourages riders to get whatever competitive advantage they can.
I am all about player safety, and commend the NFL on the steps they have taken with regards to helmet-to-helmet and defenseless contact in the last couple of years. However, the idea that defenders who make their money to tackle the offensive player with the ball have to now alter their entire technique so not to potentially injure an opposing quarterback is why the NFL has blown off most of their toes shooting themselves in the feet.
We have not yet progressed to flags or skirts on the quarterbacks. Thankfully enough for Tom Brady, 2018 is likely to be his last season, so the NFL will not need to change the rules to put some sort of bubble or force field around him.
Keep in mind that the bubble or force field would only be for Brady. The other 31 starters around the league are on their own.
The idea that the Roughing the Passer penalty in 2018 has more ambiguity than the “What is a Catch” rule is humorous by design. League offices are still trying to clarify the latter rule change brought on by Calvin Johnson in 2010.
If Matthews would have decleated Smith, sending him flying backwards several yards, would it have been a legal hit, as his body weight would have stopped at the point of impact?
-JC24