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The quarterback slide to end a play needs to be changed (1 Viewer)

This wasn't an example of it as this case was clearly a late/dirty hit, but a LOT of the times a QB gets hit badly on a slide it's because they're sliding way too late. Scampering for a tight first down they're barely going to make it to and then trying to drop at the last second right in front of the defender who is fully committed to stopping the first down.

You can't make the penalty harsher than 15 yards because half the flags are the QB's fault for sliding too late.

I think there are two possiblities.

1) QB slide is a 3 yard penalty - The intent of the QB slide was for QBs like a 40 year old Philip Rivers to give themselves up in the middle of the wide open field with no one around where they got scared because a defender was getting close to being within 10 yards of them. Not 4.5 guys sprinting and lunging for a 1st down and then getting instant protection against a defender that is at full speed on a bang bang play. Make it a 3 yard penalty so QBs will only use it in the intended scenario, but on a bang/bang play won't drop their head right into the impact zone.

2) Eliminate the QB slide completely - There would be way less injuries, and certainly way less of the big shots to the head, if these guys just took a regular tackle instead of dropping their face into a guy's shoulder. If QBs can't stop panic sliding when they're about to get hit (not the case with this Lawrence play, but it happens a lot) then just take it away so they'll get tackled in the midsection instead of the head.
 
Easy solution. Makes the slide rule only behind the line of scrimmage. If a qB is in the pocket then running parallel then can slide and give themselves up without a hit.

Once a QB passes the line of scrimmage trying to gain rushing yards and should be defended the same as a RB or WR.
I think currently any player can slide to end the play inbounds without contact, not just QBs, right?
 
Of all of the plays to cause a discussion about the slide rule, and whether it should be changed, yesterday's play involving Lawrence and Al-Shaair shouldn't be it. That one was clearly avoidable, and this isn't the first time this year that Al-Shaair has gone looking for a fight. As soon as I saw it happen, I texted my buddy "Al-Shaair is the league's new Burfict." That was bad, and his reaction was worse.
 
Trevor Lawrence got nearly killed on a slide today. They need to change that - can't we have them just raise their hand fair catch style? Play is dead as soon as they do?

Whatever, there has to be a better way.

The play
Cheap shots are always going to happen, it doesn't matter what you do. The NFL simply needs to make the penalty so severe for a hit like Lawrence took that takes the player out of the league for 1+ years. In many cases, the punishment does not match the crime. I say in cases like this, make the punishment even more severe than the crime. At least these idiots might think twice.
I agree but you also can't allow QBs to fake going out of bounds and then turn up field or reach the ball out for an extra yard or two, or fake a slide and then keeping running. Happens all the time with certain QBs.
I agree with this. 15 yard unsportsmanlike from previous spot and loss of down seems appropriate. It's another subjective call which the NFL struggles with, but make it reviewable and punish blatant abuses.
 
Of all of the plays to cause a discussion about the slide rule, and whether it should be changed, yesterday's play involving Lawrence and Al-Shaair shouldn't be it. That one was clearly avoidable, and this isn't the first time this year that Al-Shaair has gone looking for a fight. As soon as I saw it happen, I texted my buddy "Al-Shaair is the league's new Burfict." That was bad, and his reaction was worse.
This guy gets zero pity at this point. If you go to YouTube you can see all the different incidents he has been involved in. He h/as already been fined for excessive hits and the league needs to send a message with their punishment--like 3 games and big $$.

That being said, I agree with what some have said as far as some QB's milking this. I think Allen and I know Kenny Pickett (years ago) have used the fake slide to juke out defenders. I have seen Mahomes use the "I am running to the sidelines and turn it up field" play twice this year. It is hard to find a balance, but what happened yesterday was dirty, dirty and deserves the hammer.
 
Of all of the plays to cause a discussion about the slide rule, and whether it should be changed, yesterday's play involving Lawrence and Al-Shaair shouldn't be it. That one was clearly avoidable, and this isn't the first time this year that Al-Shaair has gone looking for a fight. As soon as I saw it happen, I texted my buddy "Al-Shaair is the league's new Burfict." That was bad, and his reaction was worse.
This guy gets zero pity at this point. If you go to YouTube you can see all the different incidents he has been involved in. He h/as already been fined for excessive hits and the league needs to send a message with their punishment--like 3 games and big $$.

That being said, I agree with what some have said as far as some QB's milking this. I think Allen and I know Kenny Pickett (years ago) have used the fake slide to juke out defenders. I have seen Mahomes use the "I am running to the sidelines and turn it up field" play twice this year. It is hard to find a balance, but what happened yesterday was dirty, dirty and deserves the hammer.
Agreed. And, yeah, QB's taking advantage of it makes it complicated. I wonder if there is a way that they could treat it like the fair catch rule. Once you start to make that signal, there is no going back and changing your mind. Obviously, it's not that simple, and the QB slide (or defining where/when they begin their slide) is very subjective.

I do feel for the defenders. Once they let the QB out of the pocket, they become very difficult to defend. They want to stop them, but must proceed with caution. But, I've seen enough of Al-Shaair this season to know that he's not the victim in this situation. The guy is a ticking time bomb.
 
I have no serious issue with QBs faking slides or faking going out of bounds. Nobody gets hurt on either of those plays. It's cheesy, but it's just gamesmanship, like the fake spike, or its cousin, the fake kneel-down.

The NFL is a better product today because we protect QBs. If we let QBs get blown up like they did back in the 80s and 90s -- which admittedly was fun -- we would currently be treated to a bunch of critical end-of-season games featuring the likes of Carson Wenz, Josh Johnson, Mitch Trubisky, Hendron Hooker, and Kenny Pickett. I'm okay with the rules as they are if that means that we get to have Mahomes, Jackson, Allen, Hurts, and Goff instead. I think you guys are overreacting to one bad play made by one dirty player.
 
I have no serious issue with QBs faking slides or faking going out of bounds. Nobody gets hurt on either of those plays. It's cheesy, but it's just gamesmanship, like the fake spike, or its cousin, the fake kneel-down.

The NFL is a better product today because we protect QBs. If we let QBs get blown up like they did back in the 80s and 90s -- which admittedly was fun -- we would currently be treated to a bunch of critical end-of-season games featuring the likes of Carson Wenz, Josh Johnson, Mitch Trubisky, Hendron Hooker, and Kenny Pickett. I'm okay with the rules as they are if that means that we get to have Mahomes, Jackson, Allen, Hurts, and Goff instead. I think you guys are overreacting to one bad play made by one dirty player.
I agree that there is a bit of overreaction to the sense that I do not think anything needs to change due to this one play. They can stiffen the penalty for hits they find to be intentionally dangerous and I would be fine with that. This is football and these guys are paid to deliver hits. In no way am I am defending the hit, I do believe the tackler had a chance to better avoid the aggressive contact he made. But with full speed and adrenaline mistakes can be made…or he had the intention of putting Trevor out like a cigarette. Either way, penalize the guy so it hurts him and his team enough to make these few and far between.
 
Trevor Lawrence got nearly killed on a slide today. They need to change that - can't we have them just raise their hand fair catch style? Play is dead as soon as they do?

Whatever, there has to be a better way.

The play

I'll be the devil's advocate on this one. Here is the play. https://x.com/ProFootballDoc/status/1863299207324717539

The defender is attacking at the same time Lawrence starts his slide, which is right at the first down line to gain. It's not helmet to helmet or forearm to helmet and appears Lawrence hits his head on the turf. Not a dirty play and honestly the defender has no choice here with quarterbacks using the fake slide and fake out of bounds run to their advantage. The problem on this play is the defender can't let up because Lawrence is sliding right at the first down flag and his sliding technique sucks because he keeps his head up.
To me the bold is the solution here - make faking a slide a penalty.
 
Zero chance they're getting rid of the slide, here's Brady's take which I agree with, no more fake slides, or fake going out of bounds for QBs either for that matter, defensive player lets up on the play because if he doesn't he's going to blast the QB, these guys have one second to make that decision, there's no in between.

Tom Brady has suggested that quarterbacks should be fined or penalized for sliding late to deter defensive players' late hits on signal-callers.
"Maybe they fine or penalize a quarterback for sliding late. And say look, if we don't want these hits to take place, we've got to penalize the offense and the defense rather than just penalize a defensive player."
 
A lot of bad answers in here, as there have been bad answers on the radio and (in some places) in print. LOOK at a still picture of the defender vs Lawrence at the point of contact. How far off the ground is the defender? Assume Lawrence is a WR or RB running in the open field, and the defender is coming pretty much straight at him...does he tackle that low? Does he leave his feet and lead with a forearm? NO NO NO NO he does not...never. Lawrence slid late, a lot of QB's slide late, and often I will argue it's their own fault when they take a hit, but this hit was from straight on, and was super low...too dang low to have been an accident.

Now, if we wanna give the benefit of the doubt to the defender, it would be this: defenders ALWAYS hit players that are barely on or going to the ground. If a RB is wrapped up by three guys and going down, the NFL says/does nothing about a fourth defender flying in at full speed and hitting him even when it's clear he's down. Defenders go low on players going down to the ground ALL THE TIME, presumably hoping to cause a fumble. With that in mind, it's not inconceivable that it's a natural instinct to go low on a QB who is sliding, because that's what they've been trained to do. But the timing of the slide is only a part of the problem. With that in mind, if the NFL doesn't want to afford protection to RBs and WR's from similar low hits, the right answer isn't to change any rules at all....except to change the QBs jersey. Have the QB wear a jersey so different from the rest of the team that it's easier for defenders to see them as special in those moments. And don't let Mahomes or any other QB fake a slide or fake going OOB. If they fake it, they've done it. Mahomes jukes to the sideline...blow the play dead and spot it right there.
 
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Just in the last 5 minutes...

Desmond Ridder slid into a guy at the last possible instant when the guy was already fully committed, almost took off his own head, and complained to the refs about it even though it was entirely his fault.

Drew Lock slid into a defender that was engaged in a block with a different player and didn't even see Lock coming, hit his head on the side of the guy's hip, and then yelled at the ref for not throwing a flag over him "getting hit in the head" :lmao:
 

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