Crackback Block
 

One particular play that annoyed me so much yesterday was the flag for this. I've re-watched the play like 50 times, I still don't understand. Crackback blocks are only illegal if they are low and below the waist. It's like they just called something obscure to negate the play. The other guy literally ran back into him. Not only is there no illegal crackback block, it's not even close.

Re: Crackback Block
 

It was a perfect block.

The one that annoyed me most was when Robert Woods ran into Eli Apple and pushed off, then we got called for illegal contact...

Re: Crackback Block
 

Oh god yes, that annoyed me too. Such ridiculous bs.

Re: Crackback Block
 

That call in particular was egregious. I saw it exactly how you did too.

Re: Crackback Block
 

On the crack back block. I haven’t done research. Was it illegal

Re: Crackback Block
 

There was nothing close to being illegal on that play. The only way it'd been illegal is if our player would have gone low below the waist or went up high to the head or neck area. This didn't happen; heck the contact was mostly initiated by the Rams player and nothing was low. An incredibly bad call.

It is illegal for a player that spread wide near the sidelines to come back in and run toward the ball and hit a player below the waist or up high to the head or neck area to create space. We didn't do anything like that. The contact was mainly initiated by the other guy, he ran into the block.

Re: Crackback Block
 

How about the push to the back on the Gurley TD following that call? LA #81 pushed Lattimore from behind to allow Gurley run to the pylon. I don't know if I know the rules on that kind of a play, but I thought putting your hands on the numbers on the back of the jersey was illegal in blocking?

Re: Crackback Block
 

Ok here is where I think its confusing everyone...

-Chop block is the one that is below the waist.

-Crackback Block is where you have a Defensive player going in one direction pursuant to the ball carrier and an offensive player is usually wide and lays that defender as if sealing the edge and the defender has no idea its coming. Its a way of protecting the defender... This was started back when Warren Sapp laid out a punter many years ago. They have been calling this penalty in a lot of games and its consistent with other games. I recall seeing one in a Giants game not that long ago.
you can hold him up and you can get in his way but you can't deck him because he is a defenseless player in a way.

Re: Crackback Block
 

A crackback block is not illegal. A high or low crackback block is. The crackback block was made into a defenseless position around 2012. Yes he is in a defenseless position, but for it to be an illegal hit has to be high or low. Just hitting a player in defenseless position is never really illegal. Leading with the crown of the helmet, going helmet to helmet, or going below the waist is.

A chop block is a scissors block where one player goes high and one player goes low. The penalty is usually called on the second player to engage.

Chop blocks most of the time occur by the offensive lineman. There is actually a lot of helmet to helmet contact that occurs on the line, and isn't illegal. Helmet to helmet isn't always illegal, just on players in defenseless positions. Chopblocks have nothing to do with defenseless position, it's just when someone goes high and someone else goes low simultaneously.

Re: Crackback Block
 

That is the result of the recent rule change. It opened the Pandora's box of them questioning what is a catch and what is interference.

In the Steelers/Seahags game yesterday, Pete Carroll challenged a non-call which clearly was not interference whatsoever, but looked like it when reviewed in slow motion and he won the challenge.

That's what I meant back during the summer when I said that rule change would lead to bad results. I get it that everyone was angry over the non-call in the NFC title game, but the rule change was as much of an over-reaction as the Vikings wanting the overtime rules changed after we beat them in 2009.