The Biggest Story of
the Week: The Death of Defensive Football
Change doesn't happen all at once. Sometimes it is slow, so
slow that the outcome, which seems inevitable at the end, was impossible to see
during the process. I believe the end is now here, and we can pronounce that
football has changed forever. Defense as we knew it is dead.
It started about 10 years ago in the NFL. Two rules were
passed almost at the same time, that would change how the game was played. The
league realized that quarterbacks were becoming rock stars, and the last thing
you wanted was your rock stars on the bench each Sunday. The NFL began
protecting quarterbacks to the point that defenders really had to think twice
about hitting them hard at all. The other rule that was passed in the NFL was a
response to a playoff game between the Patriots and the Colts in the early 2000’s.
The Patriot defensive backs dominated the game by being physical with the Colt receivers,
at the line of scrimmage, down the field, and as the pass was in the air.
Almost none of the plays were flagged, but it was rough and ugly style of football that the NFL
didn’t see as marketable enough, so they responded with the illegal contact
rule. An illegal contact foul would result in a 5 yard penalty and an automatic
first down. So now, as a defensive back, you can’t put your hands on a receiver
because it would be illegal contact, you can’t try to chuck them at the line,
because if you happen to hit them after the 5 yard buffer, then it is defensive
holding, and you can’t make contact with the receiver while the ball is in the
air, because that is pass interference. All of these penalties result in a
first down. Advantage offense.
The next step in the death of defensive football also came
at the NFL level. Former players of the league, many of whom were suffering
from head-related injuries sued the league for negligence in educating players
about the risks of head injuries. While the legal process was working itself
out, there was a work stoppage due to labor negotiations. The league had to
respond quickly. After settling the labor issues with the players, the league
began focusing on player safety. More rules were put into place. Now defensive
players could be flagged for leading with the crown of their helmet, and more
importantly, targeting a defenseless receiver.
All of these changes began in the NFL, but their repercussions
have been felt more at the college level because of the disparity in talent.
NFL teams all have one thing in common, they are full of NFL caliber players.
Even the best college teams, which have 85 scholarship players on their roster,
might have 20 NFL players. That means there is a big disparity between the best
players and the worst players. Now take into account that teams like Alabama
and Oregon routinely play teams that have no NFL talent on them, and you have
to go even farther in protecting players who honestly shouldn’t be on the same field.
There is a reason that high school football teams don’t play middle school football
teams, but that is in essence, what happens at the college level.
This season, the NCAA instituted a rule that makes “targeting”
illegal. A foul comes with a 15 yard penalty and ejection from the game. We saw
the rule in its ugliest form yesterday during the marquee matchup of the
college football season, Alabama v. Texas A&M. As soon as you look at the
replay it was obvious that there was nothing dirty, or even illegal about the
play the Alabama player made, but the referee, standing on the Texas A&M
sideline, threw the flag anyway. The commentators said it was because officials
have been told to error on the side of caution, but in reality, it was a
response to the high impact look of the play. The call was overturned and the
player was not ejected, but the penalty stood because the NCAA doesn’t want
penalties to be reviewable.
As the A&M sideline was lobbying the referee for the
flag, did you see anyone on that sideline move towards the player that was
supposedly targeted? I didn’t. While the intention of the rule was to focus on
player safety, it is obvious to me, that the safety of the player wasn’t the
primary concern yesterday, it was drawing a penalty and getting an opposing
player kicked out of the game.
Alabama has great players on defense. Alabama has a
defensive-minded head coach that is probably the best collegiate coach of all
time. Alabama is the two-time defending national champions. Alabama gave up 42
points yesterday.
Ohio State gave up 34 points yesterday and won by 18. South
Carolina, with their stacked defense and the best defensive player in the game,
gave up 25 points to Vanderbilt. Texas gave up 44 points at home.
Of the 18 games featuring top 25 teams, every team that won
scored at least 20 points and 11 of those teams scored 35 points or more.
Defense used to be about punishing the guy with the ball.
You wanted the opposing receiver to think about getting hit as he ran across
the middle of the field. You wanted to quarterback to get rid of the ball
earlier than he wanted to, because he didn’t want to get hit. Guys like “Mean”
Joe Green, Reggie White, and Ronnie Lott are in the NFL Hall of Fame because
they imposed a physical toll on their opponents. Those guys would be getting
fined in the modern NFL, and kicked out of games at the college level.
I’m not saying that player safety isn’t important, but I am
saying that we all better get used to the new
game of football. Offense wins games, and all you need your defense to do is
stop the other team a couple of times and get a turnover or two. The difference
in games now is whether or not you can hold your opponent to a field goal
rather than a touchdown, as if stopping them from scoring at all is out of the
question.
In some ways, I think it is disrespectful to refer to the modern
game as football, because it doesn’t look like the game played back in the 70’s,
80’s, or even the 90’s. While the modern game is highly entertaining and
dramatic, let’s call it what it is, basketball on grass.
Biggest Win of the
Week: Alabama stays at the top of the mountain
Ric Flair said it best, “To be the man, you have to beat the
man.” LSU tried last year, Georgia tried last year, and Texas A&M tried
yesterday, but Alabama is still the man. Yes A&M beat Bama last year, but
it didn’t cost the Tide anything. Yesterday’s loss could have been the end of
the run for Alabama, because A&M would have had to lose two SEC games for
the Tide to get back into the title picture, and that would mean losing to both
LSU and Ole Miss. Now, with LSU having to play Georgia, A&M, Florida, and
Ole Miss, and Alabama already having the one game lead on A&M, you can
pretty much put the Tide back in the SEC title game, or as it could be called,
the National Semifinal. The beauty of college football is the importance of
each game, and the stark difference in your season outlook between a win and a
loss. Alabama set themselves up for another magical season with their win in
College Station.
Biggest Loss of the
Week: Texas is a dumpster fire
The Longhorns had the biggest loss last week in their game
against BYU, but they had the chance to change their momentum with a win, or
even a good performance against an up and coming Ole Miss team in Austin. After
going down 14-0, Texas showed some spirit by battling back and even taking the
lead. But the Longhorns were shut out in the second half, and their defense
again looked putrid.
Now Texas heads into a Saturday night showdown with Kansas
State on ABC. Yes, the same Kansas State that lost week one, at home, to North
Dakota State. This is ABC’s national game on Saturday night. I would rather
watch a Kardashian marathon.
The reality for Texas is that it will be hard for the
Longhorns to make a bowl game if something doesn’t drastically change. They
still have games against TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and
Baylor.
In my opinion, it doesn’t matter what Texas does for the
rest of the season, Mack Brown is gone,
and one of the best jobs in America will be open. It will be interesting to see
who Texas wants (Charlie Strong, Kevin Sumlin, Nick Saban), who wants to go to
Texas (Hugh Freeze, David Shaw), and who Texas actually ends up with. I think
Texas is going to figure out that they don’t exactly have the clout that they
used to have.
Heisman Winner if the
Season Ended Today: Johnny Football
I hate his off-field antics. I hate his me-first attitude. I
hate it when he makes bad decisions and they work out. But at the end of the
day, you have to give the devil his due. Johnny Football is the only reason
that game was close yesterday. Nick Saban and Alabama knew that all they had to
do was slow down Manziel and they would win the game, and they never really did
it. Manziel made a stupid pass into the end zone that got picked off, but there
was no pressure on him, he just made a mistake. You can’t really fault him for
the tipped pass that was returned for a touchdown. Everyone will point to the
scramble play in the first half as Johnny’s Heisman moment from yesterday, but
that pass was stupid. Johnny’s Heisman moment yesterday was standing 5 yards
deep in his own end zone while the Alabama defense rushed at him, and throwing
a 95 yard touchdown pass to make it a game in the fourth quarter.
Top 5:
1.Alabama
2.Oregon
3.Clemson
4.Stanford
5.Florida State
Three Things to Watch
for Next Week:
-Clemson goes on the road to NC State on one of those stupid
Thursday night games. Screwy things happen on Thursday night, and Clemson will
have to continue to prove their own history wrong all season. So many times,
Clemson, and other ACC heavyweights lose inexplicable games to lesser teams in
conference. If the Tigers are serious title contenders they will not only win
on Thursday night, but they will go on the road and dominate.
-SEC divisional rivalries: Florida hosts Tennessee and LSU
hosts Auburn. For Auburn and Tennessee, these games represent the first opportunity
to announce their return to relevance in the nation’s best conference. For LSU
and Florida, they are must win games if they want to get to Atlanta. I think
both of these games will be close, and we might even see an upset.
-Kansas State at Texas. One of these teams will have to win.
Okay, so sometimes there aren't three things to watch.
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