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Pushing teammates forward. Should it be legal or not?


Logic

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1 hour ago, Logic said:

As I watched multiple games on Sunday, it was impossible to ignore.

In game after game, players were stopped by a horde of defenders, only for a group of their teammates to rally to the pile, pushing the whole mass of humanity for an extra 3-7 yards.

When it happens, it looks less like pro football and more like a rugby scrum.

I've been reading a book called How Football Became Football: 150 Years of the Game's Evolution, and in it, I learned that American football used to look a lot like what we've seen recently: huge piles of humanity pushing on each other, fighting for every yard. Basically, it wasn't far removed from rugby when it began. Players even had loops sewn onto their pants for a time for their teammates to grab onto to either push or pull them more easily.

One of the earliest debates in football was how to spread the game out, make it less dangerous, and less of a tedious "three yards and a cloud of dust" affair. These "momentum plays", as they called them, lead to a ton of injuries, and to a frankly ugly, more brutish, less exciting form of football. The ability of a running back or receiver to gain yardage is de-emphasized in favor of the ability of a group of players to push harder than another group of players. 

After years of this ugly, rugby-style pile pushing, rule changes in football eventually disallowed it. For most of the history of modern pro football as we know it, pushing or pulling the pile in the manner we have recently seen has not been allowed. In 2006, a rule change made pushing the pile legal again (though pulling is still technically not legal). For whatever reason, it took until this season for it to really become as common and prevalent as it has. 

The question is, should it be allowed? Are these big pile-push scrums really American Football? I'm curious to know how other football fans feel about this issue.

Thank you for this. I’ve been telling people that I thought it was illegal. I didn’t realize they changed it in 2006.

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4 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Yes it should be allowed.  There is no reason not to allow it IMHO, its a team sport, so teammates should be allowed to assist.  I see a lot of people complain about this, but honestly I don't get why anyone would have an issue about this is a full contact and physical game like the NFL.  

 

More importantly, this would be almost impossible to regulate if they were to make this illegal.  Those piles get crazy, and while we at home have the benefit of camera angles and cameras high above the pile of men, the refs on the ground do not.  To expect them to catch these views in these big piles is an impossible task and so many incidents would be completely subject to interpretation when the piles are crowded.  

 

And Rugby is a substantially tougher sport and its legal there.  We have already powder puffed up the NFL enough as it is.  Let it be, its been this way all through football history, no reason to change it if you ask me.  

 

There's 2 types of plays like this that I think would be very easy to legislate. 

 

1) A designed play to push a runner forward. IE what the Bills were doing earlier in the year with Gabe Davis lining up behind Allen on sneaks. 

 

2) O-line running downfield to crash into a pile when forward progress has been stopped, but refs don't want to blow it dead. 

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43 minutes ago, Logic said:


Suppose that in the AFC championship game, the Bills only need to stop an opponent on 4th down to seal a victory.

They call the perfect defense, the defenders execute, and two linebackers converge on the opposing ball-carrier 1 yard deep in the backfield, stopping him definitively for a loss. The defenders begin to ease up just the slightest bit, figuring the play is dead and they don't want to risk a personal foul. But the refs don't blow the whistle, so three of the opponent's teammates run up to the player and push him forward for a 1st down.

Perfect playcall, perfect execution, but the subjectivity of when to blow the whistle leads to the play continuing, and the ball carrier happens to have more guys around to push him forward than the defense does to push him backward. The playcall and execution are moot, and sheer numbers and brute strength win out, with aid to referee subjectivity.

Would you still feel it's a non-issue?

 

No offense bud...But we cant change rules for every very specific what if scenario someone wants to paint that wouldn't go our way.  We can do this for every rule in the book.  

 

Just like I can say back to you what happens when its the final play in the game and we are on the 1 foot line of the goal line and Josh does a QB sneek and gets a push from Gilliam and Knox that gets him over the line to win the SB.  You going to say the Bills should have an asterisk and that not count?  

 

The reality is, with Josh Allen as our QB, this rule is substantially more likely to help us win games then hurt us.  With his size and QB Sneak ability, this is something that has already happened and will continue to happen during Josh's career where he gets a push from behind on sneaks.  

 

Not sure why you want to take that away from this team if I am being honest.  Fearing someone else could use it to seems like a bad reason to take it away when its much more likely to help us than someone else.  

 

 

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1 minute ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

There's 2 types of plays like this that I think would be very easy to legislate. 

 

1) A designed play to push a runner forward. IE what the Bills were doing earlier in the year with Gabe Davis lining up behind Allen on sneaks. 

 

2) O-line running downfield to crash into a pile when forward progress has been stopped, but refs don't want to blow it dead. 

 

Forward progress is a different discussion though.  That is a judgement call, and always will be.  If defensive players can pile on to prevent forward progress on a single runner, why can't the offensive people pile on to help create more forward progress would be my question.  Doesn't seem fair to say defenders can do it and the offense can't.  

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1 minute ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

No offense bud...But we cant change rules for every very specific what if scenario someone wants to paint that wouldn't go our way.  We can do this for every rule in the book.  

 

Just like I can say back to you what happens when its the final play in the game and we are on the 1 foot line of the goal line and Josh does a QB sneek and gets a push from Gilliam and Knox that gets him over the line to win the SB.  You going to say the Bills should have an asterisk and that not count?  

 

The reality is, with Josh Allen as our QB, this rule is substantially more likely to help us win games then hurt us.  With his size and QB Sneak ability, this is something that has already happened and will continue to happen during Josh's career where he gets a push from behind on sneaks.  

 

Not sure why you want to take that away from this team if I am being honest.  Fearing someone else could use it to seems like a bad reason to take it away when its much more likely to help us than someone else.  

 

 



As I've pointed a few times in this thread, it's not as if this has always been a part of football, and I'm advocating for taking something out of the sport that's always been a big part of it. That's just not the case.

For the vast majority of the history of "modern" pro football as we know it, assisting the runner has NOT been legal. It was only made legal in 2005. 

My disliking it has nothing to do with the specificity of any particular scenario. The Bills have obviously benefitted from it multiple times this season.

My dislike of it has more to do with the fact that it doesn't resemble American football to me. It resembles rugby.

I suppose in the end it comes down to the classic divide of those that want a more open, exciting, safe game, based on skill and design, and those that want a smashmouth, big-piles-of-guys-leaning-on-each-other game, that is somehow a tough, throwback harbinger to "when men were men". 

Like I said, if you go back and watch classic games from the 1980s and 1990s and 2000s, this prevalence of pushing runners isn't a thing. I think most people would agree that football was just fine during that period WITHOUT player-pushing being a part of the game.

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its all fun and games until a star QB or RB gets hurt for the season in these push piles.    when the injuries start to pile up,  it'll be removed from the game.

 

are these piles in the spirit of the game?  or are they just something thats unfairly skewed towards the offense,   and some find exciting.

trust me,  it wont be exciting when it goes against us and costs us a game.

 

one thing the NFL isnt,  is being proactive when it comes to things such as this.

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1 hour ago, Logic said:

As I watched multiple games on Sunday, it was impossible to ignore.

In game after game, players were stopped by a horde of defenders, only for a group of their teammates to rally to the pile, pushing the whole mass of humanity for an extra 3-7 yards.

When it happens, it looks less like pro football and more like a rugby scrum.

I've been reading a book called How Football Became Football: 150 Years of the Game's Evolution, and in it, I learned that American football used to look a lot like what we've seen recently: huge piles of humanity pushing on each other, fighting for every yard. Basically, it wasn't far removed from rugby when it began. Players even had loops sewn onto their pants for a time for their teammates to grab onto to either push or pull them more easily.

One of the earliest debates in football was how to spread the game out, make it less dangerous, and less of a tedious "three yards and a cloud of dust" affair. These "momentum plays", as they called them, lead to a ton of injuries, and to a frankly ugly, more brutish, less exciting form of football. The ability of a running back or receiver to gain yardage is de-emphasized in favor of the ability of a group of players to push harder than another group of players. 

After years of this ugly, rugby-style pile pushing, rule changes in football eventually disallowed it. For most of the history of modern pro football as we know it, pushing or pulling the pile in the manner we have recently seen has not been allowed. In 2006, a rule change made pushing the pile legal again (though pulling is still technically not legal). For whatever reason, it took until this season for it to really become as common and prevalent as it has. 

The question is, should it be allowed? Are these big pile-push scrums really American Football? I'm curious to know how other football fans feel about this issue.

 

I'm going to have to pick this book up! I think part of the dangers of early college football was that it was a continuous game like rugy, there was no down or distance. But even worse there were no limits to the amount of players. So the home school was at a huge advantage, and could literally have hundreds of players on the field at once. 

 

The modern rules of down and distance, and # of players on the field only came into effect after Teddy Roosevelt threatened to cancel college football following the several seasons that saw 20-25 students die each year. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Logic said:

As I watched multiple games on Sunday, it was impossible to ignore.

In game after game, players were stopped by a horde of defenders, only for a group of their teammates to rally to the pile, pushing the whole mass of humanity for an extra 3-7 yards.

When it happens, it looks less like pro football and more like a rugby scrum.

I've been reading a book called How Football Became Football: 150 Years of the Game's Evolution, and in it, I learned that American football used to look a lot like what we've seen recently: huge piles of humanity pushing on each other, fighting for every yard. Basically, it wasn't far removed from rugby when it began. Players even had loops sewn onto their pants for a time for their teammates to grab onto to either push or pull them more easily.

One of the earliest debates in football was how to spread the game out, make it less dangerous, and less of a tedious "three yards and a cloud of dust" affair. These "momentum plays", as they called them, lead to a ton of injuries, and to a frankly ugly, more brutish, less exciting form of football. The ability of a running back or receiver to gain yardage is de-emphasized in favor of the ability of a group of players to push harder than another group of players. 

After years of this ugly, rugby-style pile pushing, rule changes in football eventually disallowed it. For most of the history of modern pro football as we know it, pushing or pulling the pile in the manner we have recently seen has not been allowed. In 2006, a rule change made pushing the pile legal again (though pulling is still technically not legal). For whatever reason, it took until this season for it to really become as common and prevalent as it has. 

The question is, should it be allowed? Are these big pile-push scrums really American Football? I'm curious to know how other football fans feel about this issue.

Yeah, I was going to post about that as well last night. At the goal line it's never bothered me but it is getting a little annoying when you see it on almost every running play now. 

 

But then again if the Bills have a 4th and short and Singletary gets a little help I guess I won't complain. Like so many other things it's only annoying when other teams do it

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Glad someone else said this first.  I think it sucks.  It turns a skill position into mass humanity fat guys pushing someone.  Get rid of it.  They will, I'd bet on it.  This Would be a good poll question.  (are there polls on this site ?)

 

 

1 hour ago, Logic said:

As I watched multiple games on Sunday, it was impossible to ignore.

In game after game, players were stopped by a horde of defenders, only for a group of their teammates to rally to the pile, pushing the whole mass of humanity for an extra 3-7 yards.

When it happens, it looks less like pro football and more like a rugby scrum.

I've been reading a book called How Football Became Football: 150 Years of the Game's Evolution, and in it, I learned that American football used to look a lot like what we've seen recently: huge piles of humanity pushing on each other, fighting for every yard. Basically, it wasn't far removed from rugby when it began. Players even had loops sewn onto their pants for a time for their teammates to grab onto to either push or pull them more easily.

One of the earliest debates in football was how to spread the game out, make it less dangerous, and less of a tedious "three yards and a cloud of dust" affair. These "momentum plays", as they called them, lead to a ton of injuries, and to a frankly ugly, more brutish, less exciting form of football. The ability of a running back or receiver to gain yardage is de-emphasized in favor of the ability of a group of players to push harder than another group of players. 

After years of this ugly, rugby-style pile pushing, rule changes in football eventually disallowed it. For most of the history of modern pro football as we know it, pushing or pulling the pile in the manner we have recently seen has not been allowed. In 2006, a rule change made pushing the pile legal again (though pulling is still technically not legal). For whatever reason, it took until this season for it to really become as common and prevalent as it has. 

The question is, should it be allowed? Are these big pile-push scrums really American Football? I'm curious to know how other football fans feel about this issue.

 

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1 minute ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Forward progress is a different discussion though.  That is a judgement call, and always will be.  If defensive players can pile on to prevent forward progress on a single runner, why can't the offensive people pile on to help create more forward progress would be my question.  Doesn't seem fair to say defenders can do it and the offense can't.  

 

It is a related discussion at least, even if there is some difference. I'd like to see refs be a bit quicker with the whistle. 

 

Is it fair that offense can push a pile forward to gain additional yards, but if a defense pushes a pile backwards the spot of the ball is forward progress ? 

 

Defenders aren't launching themselves into a pile with reckless abandon like many O-line do. They are targeting the runners arms to try and force a fumble. The goal is to force a fumble or bring the runner down. For Offense the only goal is push the pile forward 

 

 

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My thought on this goes back to a game from 2010 (pretty sure that was the year) against the Raven.  It's a different perspective for sure but fits in the topic.

 

We went into OT and Nelson caught a pass, was lifted by the defender(s) and they were pushing on both offense and defense.  He has held up in the air and seemingly not moving at all but they never blew the whistle for forward progress. Then, he fumbled the ball from not being able to go to the ground because of it and Ravens kicked a FG to win the game.

 

 

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1 hour ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

No, it is getting out of control, especially by Wyatt Teller and the Browns yesterday.  Someone is going to get hurt by it, it looks like a rugby scrum.

Your mean the best G in the NFL? No way 😂 

In general I think it’s ok. One less thing for the refs to be deciding. But I think the momentum stop has to be factored. That’s the key to it not being totally abused. If the runner is stood up for a second and not moving blow the whistle. 

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1 hour ago, wjag said:

Until it's officially not, it's okay.  The problem is, it is changing the refs call on momentum stops.  Hard to fairly legislate it now.  Does feel like it's not in the spirit of the game though

I hate it. It has basically become a rugby scrum. You should not be allowed to pull or push a fellow player to advance position. And yes the refs are at fault for taking forever to blow their damn whistles. 

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1 hour ago, Logic said:


Suppose that in the AFC championship game, the Bills only need to stop an opponent on 4th down to seal a victory.

They call the perfect defense, the defenders execute, and two linebackers converge on the opposing ball-carrier 1 yard deep in the backfield, stopping him definitively for a loss. The defenders begin to ease up just the slightest bit, figuring the play is dead and they don't want to risk a personal foul. But the refs don't blow the whistle, so three of the opponent's teammates run up to the player and push him forward for a 1st down.

Perfect playcall, perfect execution, but the subjectivity of when to blow the whistle leads to the play continuing, and the ball carrier happens to have more guys around to push him forward than the defense does to push him backward. The playcall and execution are moot, and sheer numbers and brute strength win out, with aid to referee subjectivity.

Would you still feel it's a non-issue?

It's a non-issue. Play through the whistle. Pushing piles has been a part of football as long as I can remember. It's just getting more coverage now because of the special QB sneak rule. I remember it happening downfield my whole life.

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1 minute ago, BullBuchanan said:

It's a non-issue. Play through the whistle. Pushing piles has been a part of football as long as I can remember. It's just getting more coverage now because of the special QB sneak rule. I remember it happening downfield my whole life.


For the 10th time in this thread, I say: pushing/pulling teammates, the way it's being done right now, has NOT always been a part of football. 

Aiding a runner like it's done now was made legal in 2005. For decades before that, it was not legal.

Go back and watch games from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. You don't see this stuff.

 

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On one of the games I was watching yesterday, don't recall which one, the announcers were talking about this and are convinced this will be a rule change next year making it illegal.

Believe too in the SF game last drive by SF was 3rd or 4th and about 1. Tried a QB sneak he was going to be stopped well short.  But then CMC who initially lined up about 7 yards deep now comes forward with a full head of steam and drive the QB forward another 2 yards for the the first down.  Thought this play was the ultimate example of the "push play"!

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23 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

Seems like a bad injury waiting to happen. Allen had been in the middle of a few of those and it makes me hold my breath.

 

Far less injuries in Rugby where this is far more common. Straight line pushing is usually pretty safe. It's the open field jukes and cuts, the open field tackles, and the big hits in the passing game, where most injuries happen. Heck, more QBs are injured taking hits while standing in the pocket (Josh's elbow) than in one of these mauls.

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2 hours ago, Malazan said:

just what the game needs is another subjective call to be made by officials

 

Yeah that’s the problem, there's no way to outlaw it without opening a subjectivity can of worms.  Like if I want to try to block/push a defender who is trying to tackle the runner, I'm going to come in contact with the runner at some point.  Does glancing incidental contact with my runner count as a penalty?  Where is the line drawn?  The rule is fine as is where you can push, but not pull.  That's a fine black and white objective standard that works.

 

Subjective personal ideals about what football "should" be aren't relevant to the rules.

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1 hour ago, Logic said:



As I've pointed a few times in this thread, it's not as if this has always been a part of football, and I'm advocating for taking something out of the sport that's always been a big part of it. That's just not the case.

For the vast majority of the history of "modern" pro football as we know it, assisting the runner has NOT been legal. It was only made legal in 2005. 

My disliking it has nothing to do with the specificity of any particular scenario. The Bills have obviously benefitted from it multiple times this season.

My dislike of it has more to do with the fact that it doesn't resemble American football to me. It resembles rugby.

I suppose in the end it comes down to the classic divide of those that want a more open, exciting, safe game, based on skill and design, and those that want a smashmouth, big-piles-of-guys-leaning-on-each-other game, that is somehow a tough, throwback harbinger to "when men were men". 

Like I said, if you go back and watch classic games from the 1980s and 1990s and 2000s, this prevalence of pushing runners isn't a thing. I think most people would agree that football was just fine during that period WITHOUT player-pushing being a part of the game.

 

Sorry bud, I just disagree.  I think if the defense can pile on a runner and try and stop his momentum, then it's fair game for the offensive players teammates to push him for further gain.  I just don't think you can say its legal to have 4 defenders trying to slow progress and momentum, and then say it's not fair for that one single offensive player to not have any of his teammates try and counter that.  

 

Just my 2 cents.  

 

And like I previously mentioned, this play has more value to a team like us with big Josh Allen where sneaks on key downs is part of our weapon arsenal.  So I personally would not want to take something away from our team that more likely benefits our current team on the field every Sunday more often than it does the opponents.  

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46 minutes ago, Logic said:


For the 10th time in this thread, I say: pushing/pulling teammates, the way it's being done right now, has NOT always been a part of football. 

Aiding a runner like it's done now was made legal in 2005. For decades before that, it was not legal.

Go back and watch games from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. You don't see this stuff.

 

Pulling is currently illegal.  I dont know that they are calling it (distinctly remember open field pulling of an Eagles runner that didnt get called), but pulling is not allowed where as the pushing is considered legal.

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39 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Far less injuries in Rugby where this is far more common. Straight line pushing is usually pretty safe. It's the open field jukes and cuts, the open field tackles, and the big hits in the passing game, where most injuries happen. Heck, more QBs are injured taking hits while standing in the pocket (Josh's elbow) than in one of these mauls.

Maybe true in rugby, but in football these guys are decked from head to toe in body armor and seem to lack basic self preservation.

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I think the only time we have heard others complain is QB sneaks. Which I don't hate, but don't love either. 

Everything else either gets blown dead or just needs to be blown dead from the officials earlier. I don't think there is a need for a rule change. Just an earlier enforcement change. 

Slightly related: The amount of DB's that aren't turning around and seem to be just running at the WR without getting called seems to be through the roof. I don't mind the contact. I just wish they would try and play the ball a bit more. 

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3 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

Maybe true in rugby, but in football these guys are decked from head to toe in body armor and seem to lack basic self preservation.

 

But a maul is a maul. It's a slow, hard, straight push. Not a high-speed hit to the head or knee. Not a twist or juke with their foot stuck in astro turf.

 

The amount of padding doesnt matter when you are in a simple sledding drill.

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3 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Not only should pushing teammates be allowed, but I believe picking teammates up and tossing them should be allowed as well. I think Dawkins and Brown could sling Little Dirty into the end zone from seven yards out.

 

I wonder if he would just automatically fly the wrong way.

Could depend on wind confusion. 🤷‍♂️

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3 hours ago, Logic said:

I've been reading a book called How Football Became Football: 150 Years of the Game's Evolution,

I think you mentioned this before. Anyway, thanks! It’s on my quiet (for me!) days of Christmas-to-New Years reading list. 
By the way, the answer is No. It should not be legal, just as it wasn’t in the NFL till about 2006. 
It strikes me as a really bad idea from the player safety standpoint, and a boring play anyway. 

2 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

The reality is, with Josh Allen as our QB, this rule is substantially more likely to help us win games then hurt us.  With his size and QB Sneak ability

So if Josh is big enough that he doesn’t need the extra push, doesn’t allowing that hurt us rather than help us? It would help a small guy like Tua more. 

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3 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Correct rugby term is "Maul", thank you very much! :thumbsup:

 

When the other team does it, I prefer to see the maul turn into a ruck! (The difference being the ball is now on the ground.) We can have a maul, and they can have a ruck! 

 

I remember the “Bush Push” in the USC Notre Dame game many years ago. I remember thinking “you can’t do THAT!”. I was with my oldest son at the Anchor Bar watching the game the day before he went to his first Bills home game. With both boys I took them when they turned 16 as a rite of passage and a nice bonding event. Very special and fond memories. 

 

BTW -  I chose the Jets game for both boys hoping for a solid win as wins are more fun. We split with the Jets on those two trips, just like we are going to do this season!  😋

 

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48 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I wonder if he would just automatically fly the wrong way.

Could depend on wind confusion. 🤷‍♂️

The “Little Dirty Toss Left Y Banana” should only be called with the wind. 

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Personally - I wish they would go back to making it illegal.  I hate the way it looks and then it creates these big scrums with both sides just pushing.  
 

It is also more dangerous - where a play like against the Rams - Oliver trying to make a stop and the players get steamrolled by a OL running up to drive him forward.

 

I also hate the stupid narrative of the commentators - oh look at this guy continue to drive his legs and drive the pile forward - where 3 OL gab the pile with LBs and DBs and drive it forward and they act like the RB had anything to do with it.

 

Go back to not allowing the OL to touch the player and drive it forward and they can’t pull guys either.

 

 

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