There probably isn’t a more dreaded phrase in preseason professional sports than “point of emphasis” — which is, essentially, an over-enforcement of existing rules meant to drill new policies into players’ heads. In preparation for the 2014 season, the NFL has decided to “emphasize” illegal contact, which has led to an incredible spike in penalties already. According to The MMQB, the average number of accepted penalties per game in 2013 was 12.2 (for 105.6 total yards). The average for Week 1 of this preseason was 17.7 (145.3 yards), which isn’t terrible considering it’s the first game of the season. What should be unsettling are the Week 2 numbers: 20.8 penalties for 174.4 yards.
It’s worth mentioning that the “point of emphasis” policy tends to work itself out, and within a few games into the actual regular season everything gets dialed back a bit (this happens in the NBA all the time). However, that may not be the case with illegal contact:
“The way the game’s being officiated now is the way it’s going to be officiated when the season begins,” Blandino said from his office in New York. “We have to remain consistent. I knew we’d see a spike in calls when we put out these points of emphasis. But coaches adjust, and players adjust. They have to, and they know it. And we’ll correct our officials when we feel they’re being over-zealous with certain calls.”
While teams attempt to make adjustments, the team widely believed to have inspired the rules emphasis — the Seattle Seahawks — just received its first apology from the league for a blown call. During a 41-14 blowout win over the San Diego Chargers on Friday, Seahawks corner Tharold Simon picked off quarterback Kellen Clemens in the end zone, and ran it back for a pick-6.
It was a nice play and return, except that an official decided to rain on Simon’s parade with a flag. Illegal contact. Anyone with two eyes and a brain knew it was a terrible call, mainly because the contact occurred within the five-yard buffer, and the NFL agreed.
Pete Carroll said the league office told him CB Tharold Simon shouldn’t have been flagged on the INT and 103-yard TD return.
— Terry Blount (@TerryBlountESPN) August 18, 2014
Carroll, who had submitted the play for league review, had also addressed the excessive flags in his post-game comments Friday:
“It doesn’t seem quite right. It seems like there are too many calls being made and too many incidental calls that seem to be affecting the game. So, we’ll see. … It’s obviously different. So, the question is: Is it better? I don’t know… Hopefully, we will have a good conversation about it.”
Hopefully.
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