Personal Fouls: The NFL's Latest Officiating Crisis

Defensive players came into the 2014 season at a disadvantage given the NFL’s emphasis on holding and illegal contact.

Penalties are up, and offenses can just sit back and smile when the league throws them a bone on 3rd-and-long thanks to a cheap “contact” call to move the sticks. That's created free plays for the offense when quarterbacks chuck it down the field and wide receivers throw their hands up in a scripted charade as the sideline erupts in fake emotion to beg for the call. 

Garbage football.

Defenders have been forced to adjust how they play the game while wide receivers and tight ends continue to push off at the top of the route. But it gets worse, thanks to the judgment calls on personal fouls, helmet-to-helmet contact and roughing the passer.

These guys are now playing with their hands tied on calls that can impact the outcome of games.

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I’m not talking about players “launching” themselves at receivers or putting the crown of their helmet under the chin of a quarterback. Players should know that is going to draw a 15-yard penalty and a decent fine.

Instead, I’m focusing on the hits you want to put on tape as a defender. 

Good, physical defensive units will create a sense of fear in opponents with speed to the ball and clean, violent strikes at the point of attack. That will never change. The effect is obvious when wide receivers pull up on throws to the middle of the field or when quarterbacks surrender in the pocket once the walls start to close in.

However, even the clean hits are now being called dirty and malicious.

A wide receiver’s head snaps back? That’s a penalty. The quarterback gets roughed up a little bit? Throw the flag. A defensive back separates a tight end from the ball? That’s 15 yards and an automatic first down.

On the clean hits I’ve seen in the secondary this season, the refs are frantically reaching for the flag before the receiver even hits the ground.

I know it looks violent, nasty. And no one wants to see guys laid out on the field. But that’s also the risk involved with this game at the pro level. 

Take the hit from New England Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner on San Diego Chargers tight end Ladarius Green as an example.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

As you can see, this is a big-time shot with Green trying to secure the ball and Browner lying in the weeds underneath. But it’s also a clean hit, with the cornerback making a visible effort to adjust the angle of his headgear to avoid drawing a penalty.

However, the ref sees Green's head snap back and tosses the flag while ignoring the angle Browner took to deliver a hit within the rules of the game. That took six points off the board for the Patriots after Devin McCourty intercepted the pass and took it back to the end zone.

What would the league’s response be if that play had cost the Patriots a win?

This past Sunday, the refs decided to be overprotective of Russell Wilson in the San Francisco 49ers-Seattle Seahawks matchup when linebacker Nick Moody hit the quarterback on a blitz. It was a call that changed the course of the game.

Do you remember little league practice or your first two-a-day session in high school, with the coach telling you to keep your head up, put your facemask on the chest and wrap the arms?

I remember those days. “Tackling 101” on a beaten-down sled.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

That’s exactly what Moody did on contact. Yet, the refs (again making a judgment call), decided it was a little too physical for the NFL.

Instead of the 49ers forcing the Seahawks to kick a field goal, the drive was extended, and Pete Carroll’s team found the end zone for a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Ballgame.

There will also be hits where defenders are caught in a no-win situation as the receiver ducks his head. Which is to be expected, really, when a player anticipates contact.

However, that shrinks the target zone for linebackers and defensive backs playing at top speed. You don’t have time as a defender to drop down low or avoid even the smallest helmet-to-helmet contact that draws a penalty.

49ers safety Eric Reid was a victim of this when he hit Seahawks wide receiver Paul Richardson on an underneath crossing route.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Is this a penalty? Yes, it is by the rulebook (and probably a fine, too). But, please, someone tell me what Reid is supposed to do in this situation once Richardson ducks down after the catch?

There is no target zone, no true area for Reid to hit.

The answer I always get from fans is that defenders need to wrap up more. OK. That sounds good and goes back to the tackling drills we talked about at the lower levels. And I have no problem admitting that the overall tackling technique in the NFL is very poor at times.

But even on “form tackles” there is going to be some contact to the head if the receiver ducks down or if the defender rolls his hips and drives up through the target. Plus, do you really trust these refs to make the right call here given what we have seen throughout the season?

I don’t.

That worries me as we get to the point on the NFL calendar when tickets to the postseason dance are handed out. These matchups are important, and every play can alter the course of the game.

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What happens if the refs blow another call in Week 17 and a team is left out of the playoffs? Or, even worse, what if the refs are too quick to make these calls in the postseason or on the Super Bowl stage?

Yikes. That’s no good.

Ultimately, these plays will have to be reviewable to protect the standards of the NFL and to get it correct on the field.

I know the pro game has changed, and it will always be on the players and coaches to adapt to the rulebook. Whether that is technique or tackling, you have to play within the guidelines of the league. But I’m not sure the NFL even knows right from wrong anymore when it comes to defenders playing physical football.

Seven-year NFL veteran Matt Bowen is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report.

Follow @MattBowen41