Unironically this
if you tend to see and talk negatives, this question isnt for you. If you enjoy exploring the world of imagination, heres a wild one for you
what would playbooks look like, if there was no penalty for holding? Lines freeze each other out, then what?
yes, this is strictly video game territory, just to imagine what would happen
Outside runs, lots of draws and late developing play actions off of them. Another feature would be that you can run or pass out of any situation because the lines not moving means no illegal man down field.
Defensively the slot blitz would be the best play in football
The whole “refs would be throwing flags the whole game” comment is so nearsighted. Maybe that would happen a few games, but 10 yard penalties are absolute drive killers, call enough of those and offensive linemen will begin not relying on refs to overlook holds.
Usually it seems like the most egregious holds happen when the OL gets beat so bad they are trying to give the QB enough time to escape, if they actually stopped holding there’d probably be a lot more QB injuries. I think in the current state of the NFL, OL talent is outmatched by DL talent, and letting them get away with holding tips the scales a bit back so they’re more evenly matched.
I agree it’s total bullshit though, either call it every time or make it legal. Deal with the consequences. Letting the refs influence the game whenever they feel like it is wrong.
I would like to see how making it legal on both sides of the ball would play out.
The same goes in reverse for defenses too, obviously. Defensive holding and late PI calls are getting flagged randomly or at the will of the ref rather than every time… call it every time and watch how quickly players adjust and stop trying to get away with breaking the rules.
I’m going to say something controversial here: i think you’re both tapping into the idea that the refs just need to be consistent. Either call it or don’t, but do it the same way the whole time. You’d definitely hear fewer complaints about the officials if they just called things (or let things go) consistently.
Agreed 100%. I’d take calls being made consistently as a stepping stone to better officiating. But ideally they would call all penalties and force players to adjust/play within the rules rather than just be consistent with what they do or don’t call. But I’d still take consistency in games, and across different ref crews, over what we have currently without question.
It’s intentionally put into the refs hands to keep the bookies happy. Refs work for vegas.
I disagree, they call 10 holdings a game and Jets fans still watch.
They should change the holding penalty to 5 yards instead of 10. Maybe they’d be inclined to call more holds consistently. 10 yards is a huge penalty to recover from.
Pretty much when anyone complains about no calls for holding… it’s called professional cheating and linemen at almost every level are taught how to get away with it.
OL holding should be officiated differently. More like penalties in basketball. The line gets a set number of allowed holds per half and after that each one is a called penalty.
Yes that means they could hold more early on, but that would risk a higher likelihood of holding penalties in key moments at the end of halves when it’s more valuable.
Say the number is 5 allowed per team per half. There are 35 offensive plays per team each half. So the OL can only “get away” with holding on 14% of them, which I think we can all agree is less than the percentage of holds teams currently get no-calls on.
You could build in safeguards against abuses as well like; no exceptions under 2 minutes.
This would also allow linemen to learn how the refs will be calling holding for that particular game.
If this worked for OL Holding it could also work for PI.
Respectfully, nothing should ever do what the NBA does, under any circumstance ever.
The NFL and NBA already share the fact that they are entertainment entities meant to make profits first, competitive sports leagues that are meant to find the best team second.
Ok, but hear me out: Meaningless. In-season. Tournament.
So 10 times a game (5 for both teams), we’re going to have the refs stop the game to announce a penalty that doesn’t count? I’m sorry, but that would be an already ad-filled viewing experience that much worse.
It wouldn’t be a flag until the allowed holds ran out. They’d either make a 5 second announcement or just tell the teams on the sideline.
The problem isn’t that holding happens every play. Many don’t matter and hardly impact the play.
The problem is that highly consequential and OBVIOUS holding getting ignored is what frustrates fans. Refs, specifically THE referee consistently miss (or ignore) play-changing holds several times a game.
Same problem with other penalties being called. Very inconsistent.
Holdings
They don’t miss holdings when the Jets are on offense.
Every penalty which results in a new set of downs or causes change of possession should be reviewable and challengable (and not like that one time the PI calls, use the sky judge and those make the decisions)
Then why have the rule in the first place. Just allow holding and be done with it b
It would be boring, but safer, if holding was legal.
For more fun, make holding illegal while tackling as well. That ought to boost the offense.
If you remember a few years ago they did this, and the viewership went down and everyone bitched. It was insane how many holding calls they were calling.
Because holding is the most obnoxious penalty in football.
Huge play just happened? nervously waiting 10 seconds to see if a holding call is coming
10 yard penalty on first down? Drive is over. I remember reading that TDs were scored less than 5% of the time on drives where holding is called.
We would get way more Steelers-Browns games if holding was called as often as it should. Different strokes for different folks, but I don’t want to watch 9-6 shithousery every week
The only annoying thing about it now is how selective it is. Realistically almost every play could have a holding call, so they only call the ones that are obvious. I think everyone is okay with that, but the problem is that sometimes a less obvious one has a significant effect but doesn’t get called or a more obvious one has little to no effect and does get called.
The solution definitely isn’t to just throw that shit every time they see it, because that would be most plays, but right now I feel like reffing has to be changed somehow because it’s been awful
Your right, what makes it a hold vs what Doesn’t is the question . I think the nfl did indeed say just call the most egregious ones and that’s it makes sense from keeping everyone involved in the game bc I do remember when they were calling every play I stopped watching it. But your are right it needs to be more standardized in what’s dictates a hold and what doesn’t. Bc let’s be honest the defense wants a hold every snap lol
The whole point of a penalty is to discourage it from happening in the first place. If they’re still doing it, the penalty needs to be increased. Hell, throw them out of the game after the second one.
If teams can’t stop them without holding, letting them just do it isn’t a reasonable solution. Why would anyone invest a dime in elite pass rushers if they’re just going to be nerfed by the refs? Eventually you wouldn’t even need great o-lines anymore either, everyone’s just gonna grab the best holders.
Ya but the nfl is an entertainment business. Therefor they want entertainment lol. So they aren’t going to call holding calls at huge amounts as they did years ago bc of the backlash. It is what it is.
Sacks are entertaining. Watching your team being held over and over with no calls is not. Especially with the specter of games being fixed.
They tried that and it didn’t work, but that doesn’t mean nothing with work. If they pull the players doing it, it will stop. Imagine having to ride it out with backups.
Just look at the lower incidence of DPI in the NFL vs. NCAA. It’s a spot foul in the NFL vs 15 yards in cfb. And unsurprisingly, there’s more DPI in cfb. If the holding penalty was more severe, as well as being called as it’s seen, it would happen less. Even making it 15 yards instead of 10 would help.
“He got caught on his arm for a half second! That’s totally the same as my guy bear hugging the opposing player for the whole play. Why don’t they call it both ways?!” - Typical fans