BakoSaint

Dennis Allen says Shepherd's tackle was an accident and would have been legal if he still had the ball.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profoo...justin-herbert

From my 500 level seat and looking at the jumbotron, I thought this looked like a dirty play. On the other hand, I can see the argument that from the ground Shepherd was not trying to make a dirty plan and did not know that Hebert had already gotten rid of the ball. It could have been intentional or unintentional and we will never know, even if I am a bit skeptical that Shepherd had the best intentions at heart.

The thing is I have seen similar plays against our players in the past, and I do think they should be banned. I am not so worried that it was a dirty play because it was late, but moreso that he could have torn Heberts ACL for no reason even if it wasn't late, and I don't want to see any QB have their ACL torn for no reason.

Ultimately, I think it would benefit player safety to ban downed defenders from utilizing the grab and roll tackling technique of grabbing a standing players lower leg and rolling with it to put 500 pounds of two football players of torque on the knee or ankle as a tackling technique. A downed defender should have two options, hold but dont twist and wait for a teammate to assist, or get back up and make a standing tackle. Its basically like using brazilian jiu jitsu on the football field to tackle a player by bending their leg the wrong direction. We can't make the NFL into the UFC, because a UFC athlete sustaining BJJ injuries is lucky to play 3 days a year. The grab and roll tackle has got to be more dangerous for tearing ligaments than any other kind of tackle. I would rather be horse collar tackled than have a 300lb player grab my ankle from the ground and roll perpendicular to the direction my knee can bend.

Also, this grab and roll tackle style should always be illegal because even if the qb still has the ball and the play has not been blown dead, a downed defender is not in a good position to be aware of that, so they are just 'guessing' the play is still live and taking a chance with someone's ACL. If the technique was made illegal at all times, then there would be no need to complain that it was an accident and they were just trying to make a tackle and didnt realize the ball was out. Also, although many complain of the game being softened by more hits being illegal, I don't feel like grab and roll tackles are some classic 80's staple that we watched on highlight VHS tapes. They are actually about the most cowardly unpleasant tackle possible. I dont think anybody wants to see players tackling from the ground by twisting legs.

If we ever do get a franchise QB, I don't want their career ended because someone on the opposing dline tripped and could not make a conventional tackle so they played twister with their ankle from the ground. This time it was Hebert and he dodged a bullet, but next time it could be Arch Manning in a Saints uniform with his career ended at 25yo.