Ravens illegal (uncalled) chop blocks

[tony hipchest]

from merril hog's recent twitter post-

After watching the end zone copy of the coaching tape the ravens O line had several illegal chop blocks on steeled D that were never called

now merril and jaws provide some of the best game tape analysis out there. anyone who says otherwise is ignorant. noboby breaks down the coaches film better than them, infact they are the only ones to have an entire weekly show dedicated to it.

for those who dont know, endzone copies of the coaching tape arent available to the public.

by all accounts, i have read that casey hampton had a damn good game, but i actually read one poster on this board who thought he sucked because he was on his ass all day. mark kaloby noted in his post game re-watch analysis, that casey was cut block on the ravens 1st 4 running plays.

for those who dont know, the ravens o-line coach is from the denver broncos esteemed (and now illegal) cut block scheme.

so i think i will trust my own eyes, and the analysis of professionals who actually have all the resources.

as for the internet banditos who may have very well been liquored up during their only television broadcast viewing of the game, i will take their breakdown worth a grain of salt.

[DWplayer]

Legal or illegal......still sounds like excuse making to me.

[Baltimore Ravens Fan]

Old News. This was debunked as bullshit a few days ago, Merril needs to refresh his memory on the rulebook a bit. No disrespect though.

[DanRooney]

Pics here:
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com...-chop-blocking

The rule does need to be changed. This play is more dirty than anything Hines or Harrison has ever done. If they change rules against us, they have to do the same for them.

[Dodens Grav]

Originally Posted by DanRooney

Pics here:
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com...-chop-blocking

The rule does need to be changed. This play is more dirty than anything Hines or Harrison has ever done. If they change rules against us, they have to do the same for them.

This is the main issue now. I think we all can at least agree that the extent to which the chop block is made illegal should be revisited. I would imagine that pretty much everybody that had an opinion on this story two days ago did not know the full scop of the chop block rule and 1) initially took the word of those who initially reported it that they knew what the chop block rule was and 2) later looked up the rule themselves when people started to doubt and question the claims. It is obviously the case that every element of the league, from the players and coaches to the beat writers and fans, did not really understand what the rules were for the chop block. Now that it's a topic within the public sphere, however, I think that the rule should be examined and scrutinized. I've already reached my conclusion about the rule, and I believe that the rule as it applies to running plays needs to be changed. That a chop block can only occur by a blocker at least one position away from the initial blocker is ridiculous and arbitrary and violates the very spirit of the rule itself and of the league's recent player safety credo.

[i82much]

Whether the rule should be changed and whether there is evidence of illegal blocking are two very different questions.

[SCMom]

I'll give it that it falls within the rules...but it's right on the borderline, and I don't agree with the rule at all. Knowing now that the new O-line coach for the Ravens was a big part of the chop block o-line scheme of Denver in the late 90's, early '00's makes more sense as to why it was happening a lot this past game.

And by the Titans recent comments on what they have seen on tape, every other team the Ravens play are going to be doing what they can to counter these attacks. And maybe a lot of teams will use similar tactics as well.

It's football, guys are going to get hurt regardless...but little inconsistencies in the rule book shouldn't be allowed to make it easier.

[MACH1]

It's going to take a nasty injury to someone before godell even considers a rule change.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by MACH1

It's going to take a nasty injury to someone before godell even considers a rule change.

Like this one?

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09083/957938-100.stm

Honestly though I wouldn't mind seeing them change the rule. I can see why folks are concerned. I think the way the rule is written, the defender is expected to let the center go and handle the block from the guard which would allow the center to block the linebacker. I wouldn't bet on the NFL doing anything to help defenses, though.

[Dodens Grav]

Originally Posted by i82much

Whether the rule should be changed and whether there is evidence of illegal blocking are two very different questions.

Originally Posted by i82much

Like this one?

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09083/957938-100.stm

Didn't you say that you didn't come here to instigate? It seems as though that's what you're doing right now.

1) Obviously the rule itself and whether or not the rule is violated are two different discussions. Nobody was mistaking this.

2) Referencing the 'Hines Ward' rule doesn't further discussion in any kind of productive way. This discussion is not because the Ravens did it to the Steelers It's because what happened was dangerous, and many assumed that it was against the rules, and now that we know that that's not the case, we have an issue with the rule itself. I would have an issue if I saw Kemo doing this to Cody while Pouncey was standing him up. Well, I already have issues with some stupid shit Kemo does.

edit: Obviously this was written before you edited your post.