The NFL’s attempts to protect quarterbacks have been perhaps the biggest topic of discussion this season, and the latest explanation from the league office is likely to cause even more discussion.
NFL head of officiating Al Riveron distributed a video this week showing examples of legal hits from pass rushers on quarterbacks, and one of those showed Cardinals safety Antoine Bethea blitzing, hitting and landing on 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard. According to Riveron, that was a legal hit, even though Bethea landed on Beathard, because Bethea put “No body weight on the quarterback, or minimal body weight on the quarterback.”
The NFL’s written guidelines, meanwhile, say that officials have been told to call penalties when “the defender used all or part of his body weight to land on the quarterback.”
So pass rushers are being told that they’ll be penalized if they land on a quarterback with “part” of their body weight, but not if they land on a quarterback with “minimal” body weight. It’s easy to see why defensive players think the rules are rigged against them, and impossible to follow.