The new NFL rough smuggler rule causing more problems than it solves

The NFL has implemented a controversial test against the smuggler this season. Nobody, not even the officials, can really say what to do and what does not constitute a test for the smuggler.

You can read the rule in its entirety here. The new focus this season prevents the tacklers from landing on a quarter with its total weight or almost, which defies the laws of physics.

This week, the rule has once again highlighted Clay Matthews and the Packers for all the wrong reasons. But the controversy over the rule has not only engulfed the Packers. Spillovers are felt throughout the league, from locker rooms to owners' suites to broadcast booths and fans.

And do not worry, if your team has not fallen victim to the rule yet, it's just a matter of time.

Three weeks into the season, the impact of the rule changes the game, not for positive reasons.

The rule has an impact on the outcome of the games

No new team was more penalized by the new "body weight" penalty than the Green Bay Packers. Last week, during the extension of the Minnesota Vikings overtime, Matthews was called to a dubious test against the passer against Kirk Cousins.

The Packers intercepted the ball on this game. They were 29-21 with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter and the interception was brought deep into the Vikings territory. It was a winning game for Green Bay that ended up being a 15-yard win for the Vikings.

In the same match, Vikings' linebacker Eric Kendricks was also charged with brutalizing the smuggler for a fairly common tackle on Aaron Rodgers. The flag extended the drive and the Packers left with a goal on the field.

After Matthews' penalty in the second week, Minnesota went on the field and scored a touchdown and converted two points. Neither team scored in the extra frame, and the Vikings missed a winning start.

But the damage was done.

If the Packers had won this game, they would be the only ones to hold first place in the NFC North with a 2-1 record – instead they are tied with the Vikings, who could have been in the same situation. They had won this match. . Now Minnesota are also 1-1-1 after their loss to the Buffalo Bills this week.

The Browns were burned by the rule too

It's going to sound crazy, but the Cleveland Browns have had a bad luck. In their Week 1 match against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns were hit by a dubious roar against the passer when Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out by Myles Garrett at the exit of the ball.

This piece gave the Steelers access to the Browns' 4-yard line with a new run of runs and scored in the next game with a 4-yard run by James Conner. If the call was not made, the Steelers would have had to settle for a goal on the field, which would have helped the Browns to avoid a draw 21-21 this week and maybe even win the match.

Yes, the Browns could have been 2-1 right now.

For what it's worth, NFL officials Al Riveron said the officials misunderstood.

"Well, they do not have to put weight on the quarterback. And this one (on Garrett) showed yesterday, even though there's weight on quarterback (Steelers) Ben (Roethlisberger), that's not what we consider a contact at the level of A fault. "

At least, a tie is better than outright loss, especially for Browns.

Clay Matthews is confused and everyone else is

Clay Matthews was hit with another player who hit the smuggler this week after landing on the ball of the German Alex Smith in a sack. This is the third time in three weeks that the Packers have passed control. It's almost as if he's being targeted.

This week, Matthews had a big bag in second and seventh place, which would have allowed Washington to gain an extremely difficult third place, but the officials accused him of using his weight to make Smith fall.

"I judged that the defender had landed on the quarterback while he was putting him down with all or part of his weight, which is not allowed," said referee Craig Wrolstad, via Washington Post. "If you do that, it's tough on the smuggler. So that was basically my key, he landed on him with all or part of his weight and that was my decision, brutalizing the smuggler.

The NFL approved Wrolstad's call almost immediately after the match, as it must defend the referees with whom it confused the issue with these confusing rule changes.

A frustrated Matthews seemed even more frustrated and confused this week than he did last week.

"I said it in the previous weeks. But when we have a shot like that, it's a football match, "said Matthews after the match.

"I even went to see Alex Smith after the match and asked him," What do you think? " What can I do differently? Because it's a football game. As I said last week, the NFL will come back and say I put my body on it. But it's a football game.

He also fought back.

I do not know. I really do not know. Unfortunately, this league is going in a direction that, in my opinion, does not please many people. I think they are becoming soft, "he added.

He was not the only one obviously frustrated by this week's call.

Green Bay Head Coach Mike McCarthy was stuffed – He met the officials after the call.

Although Matthews has now become the most faithful child of the NFL's most hated new rule, he is not the only one to have enough after three weeks.

Everyone hates the rule

All defensemen can not be as frustrated as Matthews by the rule, but you'll be hard pressed to find one that will actually defend him. Washington cornerback Josh Norman shared confusion after this week's game.

"What do you want him to do?" There was no vicious intent. "It was a nice tackle," he said about Matthews' success.

Quarterbacks do not like it either.

"Listen, that's football, dude. We all register to be touched. We all subscribe [knowing] you could be hurt, "said Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco last week. "It's a violent sport. It's like that. "

Aaron Rodgers, for whom the rule was changed in the first place, dug holes in the logic last week after the Vikings match.

"They are trying to think about the game process and security, but it's still not a collision sport and for me, it's not a penalty," said Packers QB.

But if it is hoped that the rule will be corrected, the owners will eventually have to take action. There was a very powerful owner who disagreed with her on Sunday.

"It was not a hardship for the smuggler under the existing rules," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after Tryone Crawford was charged with being beaten by the Seahawks on Sunday.

It is terribly inconsistent

The calls the referees make to make the smuggler rough are quite confusing. Physics made Matthews' crush on Kirk Cousins ​​last week, much worse than it really was. This week, as the Packers defense was a victim of the new rules, the referees missed a call that should have been reported when Washington defensive tackle Daron Payne slammed Aaron Rodgers to the ground.

The spirit of the rule is to take excessively violent blows on the quarterbacks out of the game. Payne's tackle, where he turns around Rodgers and throws him to the ground so his head touches the turf, could have legitimately drawn a flag for manhandling the smuggler.

That's the problem with a rule like this, a vague rule that defines a broad definition without offering officials any precision as to what the rule hopes to accomplish.

And when officials can not consistently apply a rule because they do not know what the rule is, it creates a bigger problem for the league.

The NFL still can not get out of its own way

Remember how many seasons it took for the NFL to get the right capture rule? Too much. It is difficult to watch a game when the people in charge of doing so can not decide what constitutes one of the most basic fundamental acts.

The league is back in the same situation with its new stealth rule – legal in the rules book that overrides common sense. Like the capture rule, this one also modifies the result of the games.

Shifts are the most marketable assets of the NFL. The league must keep them in the field. The NFL must also make the sport safer for players. But it must do it in a logical way, and not with another confusing rule, applied in a non-coherent way, which modifies the result of the games on a technicality.

"The league simply can not go out of its way," Troy Aikman said during the Cowboys-Seahawks game broadcast on Sunday. "I mean, the helmet rule they put in place and that caused a lot of controversy throughout the preseason, and then this rule. I do not understand.

A wounded quarter will eventually come back. Fans frustrated with the defeat of their team because of the rule they do not understand may not do so.

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For the moment, this penalty is something that defenders will have to face until the NFL has a chance to review the rule during the off season. It is almost impossible to attack anyone without using your weight, but for now, defensive players in the league will have to find another way to reduce the odds. Maybe they can just politely ask them to take the bag.