Carl Guffey - 1/3/2013 3:49 PM
Jmax - 1/3/2013 7:18 AM Yep, that too. The one guy who clobbered the QB after he passed did a bad ars display all the time causing a 15 yard penalty with an automatic 1st down. CAN WE SAY STUPID? It was not a game I would have wanted to be a FL fan. If I was their coach I'd be sitting down with some of those idiots viewing the game and showing them just how bad they looked and asking them just how bad they want to play next season? emoHoppingmad Jmax
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<font size="3" face="georgia,palatino">The penalty was for late hit or roughing the passer. The quarterbacks helmet also came off and on the very next play he was throwing the ball. I thought if you lost your lid, no matter the cause, you had to set out a down? Some of the officiating in other games has been a little suspect.</font></p>
I think if the play results in a penalty against the defense then the ball carrier that lost the helmet does not have to leave the game. See below.
1. Helmet comes off. This is big change that Rhoads spent the most time going over with the coaches. If a player's helmet comes off, he must leave the game for the following down. The only exception to the rule is if the helmet comes off as a result of a penalty (face mask, for example). If the ball carrier's helmet comes off, the play must be whistled dead immediately. No more running into the open field without a helmet.
If a player who is not the ball carrier loses his helmet, he must stop playing. He cannot make a tackle, continue blocking or running a route, for example. If he continues prolonged participation without a helmet, he will be whistled for a 15-yard penalty. There is some gray area here. One example mentioned -- what if an offensive lineman loses his helmet while blocking somebody coming after the quarterback? Does he stop playing to allow the end to go after the quarterback unimpeded? The key will be determining what "prolonged participation" is.
There is one more part to this rule change. With less than 1 minute remaining in either half, if the ball carrier's helmet comes off, and that is the only reason the play is being whistled dead, there is also a 10-second runoff. If a team has a timeout remaining, the coach can elect to use the timeout instead of running 10 seconds off the clock. But the player must still leave the field for one play, unless his helmet comes off as the result of a foul. Here is your ultimate nightmare hypothetical: Let's say 9 seconds are left in a game, and your team is driving. The ball carrier's helmet comes off, and the play is whistled dead. Your team has no timeouts left. Officials must announce the game is over by rule.
Last year, helmets came off an average of twice per game. Averaged out over the course of a season and you get a helmet coming off near 200 times. All of this is being done to make sure coaches, players and equipment managers do their due diligence to ensure helmets are secured properly, and to protect players in the event their helmets do come off.
