Zero2Cool
16 years ago

Change in emphasis focuses officials on blindside tackle position

[img_r]http://cmsimg.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20080919&Category=PKR01&ArtNo=809200398&Ref=AR&Profile=1058&MaxW=318&Border=0[/img_r]When Chad Clifton takes on DeMarcus Ware on Sunday night, he'll be up against more than just one of the NFL's premier pass rushers.

At the behest of the league's competition committee, a mechanical change was made during the offseason to more closely officiate left tackles. The referee now focuses solely the blindside tackle entering Week 3, the left tackle on all 32 teams, since there are no left-handed starting quarterbacks with help in some alignments from the line judge.

It's impossible to analyze the impact after only two weeks, but the message is clear:

Blindside tackles should be in focus all season.

"That was the word from the competition committee," Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating, said in a phone interview on Thursday. "They really felt like they wanted more consistent coverage on the left tackle and the right defensive end. You invest a lot of money in those people. That's certainly an important position, especially with a right-handed quarterback.

"We're not asking for more calls. We're just asking for more consistent calls."

By making it an emphasis, though, more calls might be what the league gets, particularly when it's fresh in officials' minds early.

Clifton, the Green Bay Packers' ninth-year veteran, has been flagged for holding three times, matching his career high in only two games.

None of the flags were thrown by the referees directly affected by the change. But the added scrutiny is one more challenge, at arguably the line's toughest position, as Clifton tries to prevent the likes of Dallas' Ware from decapitating his quarterback.

"Nothing really jumped out as me as far as, 'Oh, that looks like a blatant hold' or anything," Clifton said of watching the calls on tape. "I couldn't tell you what they saw. But just work on it, continue to work on your technique, try to keep your hands inside, and that's all you can do."

With the exception of five-receiver and "trips" formations, the task of officiating the offensive line is split between the referee, umpire and line judge. In the past, the referee sometimes had to look away from the quarterback to keep an eye on the right tackle. Under the amended policy, when the line judge is on the same side of the field as the referee, the line judge handles the right tackle. When they're on opposite sides, the umpire has everyone from right tackle to left guard and the line judge helps the referee by putting a second set of eyes on the left tackle.

It was the line judge who threw flags against Clifton on pass plays in each of the Packers' first two games. Against Minnesota in the opener, Clifton was pinched for a "hook and restrict" hold on All-Pro end Jared Allen. Last week at Detroit, he was called for a takedown of Lions end Dewayne White, who appeared to slip on the Ford Field turf on a speed rush to the outside.

In both instances, the flag came out from a significant distance when the defensive player lost his footing and went to the ground.

"That's a tough call for that guy," Packers left guard Daryn Colledge said, speaking generally. "He's got a lot of stuff to watch, and when Clifton puts a guy on the ground, whether that guy fell or Clifton threw him there, it's going to be a tight call for that guy. He's kind of in a tough situation."

Clifton's other hold was a relatively clear-cut "twist and turn" of Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin on a toss left to Ryan Grant.

Like the Packers, who also had right tackle Mark Tauscher flagged against Minnesota, Dallas has four penalties for offensive holding on scrimmage plays two on left guard Chris Procter and one each on right guard Leonard Davis and left tackle Flozell Adams. Only Tampa Bay (five) has more.

The total number of offensive holding penalties (54) is down from a year ago, but in Week 1, penalties against left tackles (eight) were up.

"If the number of calls rise, and they're good calls, I don't have any problem with it," said Pereira, who reviews officials' performance in each game. "If the number of calls rise, and then, within that number, there's a bunch that shouldn't have been called, then I do have a problem with it."

How tightly holding is enforced can depend in part on who's throwing the flags. Referee Jeff Triplette and his crew worked the Packers-Vikings opener and last week's Falcons-Buccaneers matchup the only two games this season in which offensive holding has been called on five plays from scrimmage. Gene Steratore's crew has worked two of the five games in which it hasn't been called at all.

The emphasis works both ways. The Packers' right ends, starter Cullen Jenkins and third-down specialist Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, have drawn three holding calls on left tackles one on Minnesota's Artis Hicks and two on Detroit's Jeff Backus, all on running plays.

"I didn't know they put an emphasis until now," defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins said. "If you're playing fast, if you're trying to shed blocks fast and stuff, then when you try to come off and they grab you, the refs will see it more likely."

They've seen it, or at least thought they saw it, three times with Clifton, a Pro Bowler last season and widely regarded one of the game's best pass-blocking tackles. He entered the season with only 10 holding penalties for his career but has more through two weeks than any other player in the NFL.

While Clifton has held up fine overall in pass protection he held Allen without a sack and allowed one to White, on a play Aaron Rodgers held the ball too long one holding penalty at the wrong time could prove damaging.

"We've got to just be a little more attentive to keeping our hands inside and staying within the framework of the defender's body and just being above and beyond," Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "Were (the calls on Clifton) flagrant? Probably not. But we really don't have a case to argue once the (flag) comes out."




I don't mind a holding penalty if it means Rodgers stays cleaner.
UserPostedImage
Rockmolder
16 years ago
Ye, I asume it's the same around the league for other LTs, so it'll even everything out. Maybe this is even better for 'us', as Clifton is one of the better LTs in the game, since the tackles that have to resolve to holding more often, will get caught way more often.
Fan Shout
packerfanoutwest (9h) : Report: Aaron Rodgers wants to play in 2025, but not for the Jets
beast (11h) : That's what I told the Police officer about my speed when he pulled me over
packerfanoutwest (17h) : NFL told Bears that Packers’ blocked field goal was legal
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : 49ers are underdogs at Packers, ending streak of 36 straight games as favorites
Zero2Cool (22-Nov) : 49ers might be down their QB, DL, TE and LT?
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 12:00 PM
Vikings
Saturday, Jan 4 @ 11:00 PM
BEARS
Recent Topics
2h / Green Bay Packers Talk / bboystyle

8h / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

11h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

22-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

19-Nov / Featured Content / Zero2Cool

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2024 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.