The best blog you haven't read on the Internets is Sunday Morning QB. I'd have a link somewhere on Hogs Haven to his site if it were remotely related to Redskins Football. In fact I do have a link, as he is a member of SBN's College Football Bloggers.
SMQ is the definitive word on CFB related matters as far as I'm concerned, though inspired (or depressed) by the Patriots/Colts game he humors us NFL neanderthals with a good bit of cynical commentary on NFL rules. It needed to be posted:
SMQ on NFL's Pass Interference:
On a more regular basis, how could any penalty conceivably be worth the incredible yardage regularly assessed to pass interference fouls? If you drag the opposing team's quarterback out of his own huddle by the facemask between plays, that's 15 costly yards. But put your hand on Marvin Harrison's shoulder in the process of trying to do your job, that's 40 yards and the equivalent of a game-changing play the offense doesn't have to make by actually, you know, completing the pass. If a defender is beat, why can't the NFL admit, "Smart play by him to interfere" and mark off a perfectly frustrating 15 yards? SMQ does not see many intentional attempts to interfere by clearly burned college corners. Or any at all, in fact.
Inspired by Ellis Hobbs "face-guarding" pass interference. I remember watching the play and saying "Brilliant defense" only to see the Colts lined up on the one yard line. That's a gimme touchdown.
For those of you reluctant to give merely a 15 yard penalty on endzone interference, there must be some happy medium -- 20 yards? Half the distance? Launching the ball deep and praying the opposing defense barely touches your player (and he falls dramatically, or flails wildly right in front of a ref) isn't exciting nor would I call it "offense". Yet it is a strategy that often results in (unearned) points.
SMQ on "Roughing"-the-Passer:
Most egregious here is what masquerades as "roughing the quarterback," a penalty whose assessment is so far past the furthest bounds of absurdity at this point its earlier, lower levels of absurdity are subconsciously creeping into the college game in the form of "helmet-to-helmet" hits and the like (in the regular course of play, such contact is the purpose of a helmet, lest it be skull-to-skull). Last night, on a play that could have sealed the game for the Patriots had they managed to come up with the ball they popped into the air from Reggie Wayne's grasp, the hypothetical recovery wouldn't have even mattered because of a flag for a "blow" delivered to the head of Peyton Manning, a grazing effort by a totally blocked defender that probably didn't even induce one of Manning's precious neck muscles to so much as flex in response. It was 15 extra yards towards the winning touchdown, at any rate, and possibly the difference between that score, on a third straight Indy handoff (much easier to run when the ball's moved inside the opponent's ten for you) and a tying field goal.
There is about a 3 inch stretch of body that a person can legally hit on a quarterback currently, and it exists somewhere between the bottom of their head but above their waist. Deciphering where this spot is can be difficult from my living room; I cannot imagine how hard it is while charging past a giant NFL Offensive Lineman towards an opposing quarterback.
I am a firm supporter of protecting quarterbacks, but to a degree. Merely brushing the head of a quarterback with one's hands can result in the "illegal use of hands" roughing-the-passer penalty, as if defensive linemen's hands could shatter helmets and vertebrae simply by grazing touch.
None of this is to claim that the AFC Championship would have or should have gone some other way than the way it did. The better team won. I'm just saying that I really like reading Sunday Morning Quarterback, and I think you might also.
