Richard Sherman: New NFL Rules Are Allowing Average QBs to Put Up HOF Numbers

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said Thursday that the new NFL rules designed to protect quarterbacks are allowing average ones to produce what were previously Hall of Fame numbers.

Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com provided comments from the outspoken Niners defender, who argued the early-season offensive outburst around the NFL in 2018 is "what the league wanted."

"You can't touch him. You can't tackle him. You can't hit him high, can't hit him low. You can't knock him down to the ground hard ... all that. You can't hit a receiver too high, you can't hit him low, you can't push him. You can barely press him. It's making it really difficult on teams to combat it because every rule in the book is designed to make sure you don't get them stopped."

Albert Breer of The MMQB highlighted the numerous passing records broken through the first four weeks of the regular season, including cumulative yards (32,315), touchdowns (228) and completion percentage (65.4). Overall points (3,030) is also at an all-time high for this point in the campaign.

Before the season, the NFL operations department announced one of the areas for focus for 2018 was the protection of quarterbacks. More specifically, plays where "the defender used all or part of his body weight to land on the quarterback immediately after the ball was thrown," creating a risk for injury.

"The Officiating Department will emphasize that the defender is responsible for avoiding landing on the quarterback when taking him to the ground," the release noted.

Enforcement of the rule has led to several controversial roughing-the-passer calls during the season's first month.

"Unfortunately this league is going in a direction I think a lot of people don't like," Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews told reporters after getting called for a penalty against the Washington Redskins in Week 3. "I think they're getting soft."

Sherman, who added the league is "trying to make it impossible for guys to play defense," mockingly said they might as well just use flag football rules on quarterbacks, per Wagoner.

"Even if a guy gets to the quarterback, if it's third down, it's going to be an automatic first down because more than likely they're going to call roughing the passer even if it's a clean hit, a legal hit," Sherman said. "They're going to find a way to extend the drive even if a defense is effective."

The 49ers have struggled to contain opposing quarterbacks under the current guidelines, ranking 22nd in passing yards allowed per game through four weeks.

They'll try to get back on track Sunday when they take on the struggling Arizona Cardinals, who are 0-4 and 31st in passing yards.