I have to admit that RGIII is the anti Sanchez. Even when not having a great game, he's fun as hell and you feel like you're a second away from a mind blowing play. It also must be rough for him taking a step down from the receivers he had at Baylor. Also it's incredible that London Fletcher still plays like this when he's (I think) a month from being the oldest defensive starter in the league.
Yeah but Garcon never plays and Moss is old as dirt and never good for more than four in a game. These other guys are Drop City. If he was throwing to Baylor alum Josh Gordan this team would be exciting as hell.
The fact that Jason Campbell was winning games with those guys blows my mind, especially after the CHI-SF game.
I actually like this. It makes things more interesting. It gets rid of the retarded onside kick. It also creates more punt returns and makes punting more important, which I think it should be anyway. Also it improves player safety, which I guess is the ultimate goal anyway.
Doing it from the teams own 30 is going to drastically change the game. Even a monster punt is going to put the other team at the 35-30. I could see doing it from the 50 if they're going to do the punt thing.
Perhaps adjusting the yard line a little bit might be in order. But if you put it too close to the 50 then you're going to see teams going for it on the 4-15 all the time. If you go for it and get a first down, you're almost in field goal territory for any kicker out there. Except for fucking Mason Crosby, of course.
This is my biggest concern. If they did this, they'll need to set the distance so that teams receiving the punt have to drive 70-80 yards on average to get a touchdown.
Unrelated to the above, but: Have any of the Thursday night games actually been worth watching? I've been racking my brain, or maybe I'm just unlucky, but it seems like every one that I watch has just been boring to mediocre. I'm all for more football, but I'm not sure these games have been worth it.
Niners-Seahawks and (surprisingly) Browns-Ravens. Pittsburgh Tennessee was OK. But that's about it. Even the close ones (Bills Dolphins, for example) have been shitty to watch. This article on head trauma is worth reading. Apparently, a study has revealed that CTE is caused not really by concussions per se but "overall repetitive trauma."
I pretty much hate the idea of getting rid of the kick off at the moment. - They moved kick offs forward to make it safer, right? The idea was that there was supposed to be less returns. How is moving it back to punt going to help? Isn't that going to make every 'punt off' returnable? - The kick off has been part of game since forever. Besides, there's so many fewer returns now I feel that the injury risk is acceptable(43.5% were not returned last year!). If it isn't broke, don't fix it. - The option of being able to run a play when the other team elects to receive is just weird. In a way this could make things more interesting. Onside kicks are so hard to recover (let alone kick properly which is hardly a given). Teams have a lot better chance of converting a 4th and 15. - At what point do they stop deracinating the game in the name of safety? So much has been done over the last decade. Rules with time out for concussions. Neutering defenses. Medical technology is constantly improving. Fucking 24 hour help lines for NFL players. I want a safer sport, but a line has to be drawn somewhere when it sacrifices the integrity of the game.
It would help if they made them wear helmets that fucking fit. Isn't there some science behind a loose helmet raising the risk of concussion? I'm pretty sure that I've heard it in the context of military helmets at least. A football helmet probably shouldn't ever come off unless someone grabs it. You can't leave it up to the players, because they'll trade long-term brain damage for immediate comfort. The number of players that retire broke is proof enough that they can't be trusted to think beyond next Sunday.
They could wear 20 thousand dollar a piece helmets and it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference. Nothing can stop the brain from slamming into the skull.
If they are serious about stopping concussions, the NFL will get rid of face masks and go back to leather helmets. You will see an large increase in broken jaws and noses until the players learn to tackle instead of spear, but the concussions will stop. The question would then be, will people watch the game if you no longer see the big spearing tackle.
The leather helmet thing has been proposed by a dozen sports writers who fail to grasp the fact that there are serious liability issues there. It doesn't matter if it would stop big tackles. All it takes is one guy having his skull split.