Steelers vs Bengals - causes rule changes

[CoolieMan]

http://www.espn.com/blog/cincinnati...als-steelers-physical-rivalry-changed-the-nfl

How has Bengals-Steelers physical rivalry changed the NFL?
1:45 AM CT
Katherine Terrell
ESPN Staff Writer

The Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers have become one of the most heated rivalries in the NFL over the past decade, and for good reason.

The Bengals-Steelers matchups have become knockdown, drag-out fights each time they play. There have been as many flags, penalties and fines lately as there have been brutal hits.

But the repercussions of the rivalry have extended beyond the AFC North division. It has actually changed the NFL, too.

A number of rule changes have been made in the past decade as a direct or indirect result of something that happened in a Bengals-Steelers game.




2006 season: The "Carson Palmer rule"

It’s a common misconception that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was the reason the NFL changed the rules to protect quarterbacks' knees. In fact, one of those rules is often referred to as the “Tom Brady rule.”

True, the NFL clarified the language in 2009 of part of the rule after Brady went down with a torn ACL at the beginning of the 2008 season. The injury came after Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard dove at Brady's left knee.

However, that rule was once informally called the “Carson Palmer rule.”

Palmer, then with the Bengals, was only a few plays into the AFC wild-card game in January 2006, when Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen rolled into his left leg after Palmer completed a pass to Chris Henry. Palmer suffered a gruesome knee injury that ended his season and the Bengals’ hopes of a playoff win.

Quarterback knee injuries were somewhat in the spotlight that season after Ben Roethlisberger and Brian Griese also injured their knees (Roethlisberger came back, but Griese tore his ACL and was out for the season).

During the 2006 offseason, the NFL's competition committee proposed a rule change to make the game safer for quarterbacks.

The rule read: “A rushing defender is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee. It is not a foul if the defender is blocked (or fouled) into the passer and has no opportunity to avoid him.”

Thus the “Tom Brady rule” would be better termed the “Tom Brady clarification.”

During the 2008 NFL owners meetings, the league added a provision to the rule that would penalize defenders who had been blocked into the ground from lunging at a quarterback’s knees, even if the play was still ongoing.

2009 season: The "Hines Ward rule"

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward once ended the 2008 season of linebacker Keith Rivers when he broke his jaw after a physical blindside block.

Rivers never saw Ward coming. Ward had a reputation for being a dirty player. One year after the block, his peers anonymously named him the "dirtiest player in the NFL" in a Sports Illustrated poll.

However, the hit on Rivers was perfectly legal at the time. It would draw a 15-yard penalty today.

The NFL passed a rule change in the 2009 offseason that made blindside blocks illegal if the blocker's helmet, shoulder or forearm made contact with the head or neck area of the opponent, who is considered a defenseless player in that situation. The Steelers were the only team to vote against the rule.

Ward's hit on Rivers was used in an informational video by officials highlighting the new rule changes for the 2009 season.

2013 season: NFL admits mistake after Kevin Huber breaks jaw

The NFL didn't make any rule changes after a violent hit by Steelers linebacker Terence Garvin broke the jaw and neck of Bengals punter Kevin Huber. Steelers receiver Antonio Brown returned the punt for a touchdown.

Huber had moved toward Brown on the play as if to make a tackle when Garvin delivered a blow to Huber's jaw from the side.

There weren't changes, but the NFL admitted the officials made a mistake when they didn't penalize the play when it happened. The NFL reminded officials the following week that punters and kickers are considered defenseless players throughout the down.

2016 season: The "Joey Porter rule" and clarifications on helmet-to-helmet hits

The Bengals likely won't be getting into any more verbal altercations with Steelers assistant coaches. Under a new rule, only head coaches are allowed on the field to check on injured players.


Dubbed the "Joey Porter rule" after the Steelers assistant coach, the rule was enacted after the chaotic ending to the Steelers-Bengals AFC wild-card playoff game last season. Porter was fined $10,000 for his part in an altercation with Bengals cornerback Adam Jones toward the end of the game, but did not draw a flag under the rules at that time. Jones was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, helping the Steelers move into position to set up a game-winning field goal.

The league also announced changes in the interpretation of a helmet-to-helmet hit after Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier gave Bengals running back Giovani Bernard a concussion. Bernard was knocked unconscious and lost the football as a result of the play, which almost prompted a skirmish between his fellow running back, Jeremy Hill, and Steelers defenders.

The NFL said Shazier wasn't flagged because Bernard had turned and established himself as a runner instead of a defenseless receiver. Additionally, Shazier didn't intentionally line up "head on" with Bernard.

That won't matter in 2016.

With the clarification, defensive players can no longer use the crown of their helmet outside of the tackle box, no matter what angle they take. The NFL said the change is to discourage defenders from leading with the crown of their helmet.

 

[wig]

2016 Season: The Vontaze Burfict purposefully attempting to cripple receivers rule

Dubbed the "Are you going to do anything about him?" rule, Vontaze Burfict made a late game hit on Antonio Brown in an AFC Divisional game that lead to a penalty after he purposefully attempted to injure Brown after a ball had sailed past the receiver' hands. Burfict who had been playing out of control for 3 quarters ignored the incompletion and lowered his shoulder into Browns helmet in an attempt to break his neck. Because another Bengal player as in Burfict's path, he (Burfict) was forced to alter his route slightly and that likely saved Brown from greater injury and possibly a broken neck.

League officials may have been able to pass the vicious hit off as a mistake born of adrenaline and players moving at high speeds, but given Burfict's previous record of purposefully injuring players it was only too clear that his intent was to injure or kill an opposing player. In response, the NFL did what it does to all abusers, domestic and otherwise. They swatted the player and the organization on the wrist with a token suspension and the threat of greater punishment if Burfict can't find a way to get his psychotic lack of control in check.

 

[wig]

Addendum: "The Joey Porter and the other Cincinnatti Bengals assistant coaches rule"

Lost in the hub-bub of endless bitching and moaning from un-named Cincinnati blog cites, was the minor fact that earlier in an AFC Divisional playoff game when a Bengals Player was injured numerous Bengals players and coaches entered the field of play to check on the status of the injured player. For some reason, Bengals fans regularly fail to remember this obvious flouting of the rules. This should have cost the Bengals 15 yards, by their own admission. Fortunately, the officials did not throw the flag on this egregious penalty or on the subsequent occurrence when Joey Porter came on the field to keep Vontaze Burfict from further injuring his prey. Yes, literally his prey Antonio Brown whom he'd just attempted to cripple. Porter likely should not have been on the field, but Burfict had already attempted to shove his way past a medical trainer to grip Brown by the throat. The trainer had pushed Burfict's hand away, but Burfict continued the pursuit. At the point Porter stepped in blocking Burficts path to the injured player and thwarting his efforts to finish the kill.

 

[Hines57]

It's heated. We just need to take care of our business and hope they don't go out of their way to injure our star players any more.

 

[slashsteel]

 

[wig]

"1980's on: The Bengals are too dumb to win rule"

Less of a rule than a loose agreement between the powers that be, as well as the fact that the Bengals ownership has conspired for decades to run a cheap, low-class, thug-life organization that depends upon talented but selfish players who cannot seem to comprehend the greater concept of team before self, the Bengals have become one of the top three de-facto heartbreak teams in the NFL. Whether it's Chad Johnson punching his Offensive Coordinator at halftime, or T.J. Houshmandzadah dropping a critical third down pass in a tight game or the fan base refusing to accept that their own offensive lineman cut-block one of their former players into Carson Palmers knee. Or perhaps that same fan base sending death threats to a running back who unfortunately made a bad mistake admittedly at a critical point. The Bengals have found new and inventive ways to destroy any shred of hope of winning a playoff game. Even when it seems as though they can finally overcome the inept coaching and tremendously poor decisions constantly foisted upon the team by the front office, the players themselves find ways to completely crush any chance of winning in a game where all they needed to do was shut the **** up.

But when you're a Bengal, you can't shut the **** up. You're like a chihuahua. You know deep down inside that you're tiny and weak and that other dogs can kick the **** out of you without much effort at all, so the best you can do is yap and nip and hope like a ************ that the big dogs feel ever so slightly intimidated. Of course, when the big dogs bite back, you depend up on the rest of the world feeling sorry for you as you roll over and show your belly and pout ceaselessly about the unfairness of it all despite the fact that you've gone out and signed career criminals to your squad with the sole intent of injuring other players, not playing the game, but injuring. Oh yes, the poor Bengals. Poor Vontaze Burfict who attempts to twist ankles and headbutt other players. And please. Ask Antonio Brown or the Ravens Tight End about the horrible terrible Hines Ward no-blindside hit rule. I'm sure they'll feel strongly about what huge credit Burfict is to upholding THAT rule.

Ya. Just try to shut the **** up. Go a few games without actually purposefully trying to hurt somebody. That'd be great.

 

[Steeltime]

Hmmm, in reading the rule changes, I think they could more accurately be called, "Bungles get their ***** handed to them, beg for a rule change to prevent those bullies from Pittsburgh from taking their lunch money again."

 

[SteelerSask2]

The 2015 Vontez Burfict roll up knee rule don't care if it is legal. I coach football and I talk to my players. If your going for a ride on a back go for the ride. You don't pull yourself on the back of their legs. That is not a trip.
the 2015 Vontez Burfict keep your hands off of old men rule When you purposely knock someone out stay the **** away and don't engage old men with medical training attending to players.