Quote:In regards to the one chuck rule-yes.

 

The one chuck rule (informally known as the Mel Blount rule) was instituted in 1978.  It prohibited contact with receivers beyond 5 yards.  Before this rule, DBs could bump receivers throughout the pass route.  While there have been periods of more stringent enforcement-most notably after the Colts whined about the Pats stifling them in the playoffs, that has been the rule since 1978, and all CBs have played under those rules since 1978.

 

The BIG difference between now and then are the rules protecting the "defenseless receivers" and blows to the head, which have only been implemented over the past 2-3 years.  Yes that has made passing easier, but then again, there are plenty of QBs who haven't thrown for 30+ TDs under these new rules.

 

Give Bortles his due.

I'm fine with where Bortles is this season. My expectation is the devastating mistakes he has made too frequently through his career so far will become less frequent as he continues to progress. I don't know any Jags fans that aren't excited about the good he's done this year or the expectations for his future. Spacecoastjag has a history of trying to minimize Blake's mistakes to the point that he presumes that they haven't contributed to several of our losses this year, which they clearly have. Also the term "Bortles Hater" among Jags fans is basically a strawman. I'm not avoiding giving Bortles his due. Like I said, there's only a handful of QBs I'd take over him right now if I were building a franchise.


There have been more rules changes than you suggest, however. The league has become hyper sensitive to any contact on the QB for fear of having their faces of the franchise on IR and not on the field. Also, in conjunction with what you mentioned above regarding defenseless receiver rules, enforcement of contact rules across the middle of the field has changed. Receivers routinely go across the middle now with great success. Back in the day, a receiver would more often get rerouted by the defender or lit up. Defenders are having to think instead of just react. Follow the money. The league doesn't want it's stars on IR and it doesn't want to continue getting sued by former players over concussions. It's a significantly different environment to be passing the ball in in my opinion.


I'm not here to really argue any of that though. It got brought up because spacecoastjag ridiculously wants to hold up INT percentages of Bortles to the greats of a different era as proof of something. As someone pointed out, Blake's INT percentage is ranked 19th for this season and as I pointed out, he's a league worst at throwing INTs inside his own 40 which essentially is putting points on the board for your opponent. I did an examination of defensive scoring's effect on chance of winning in a thread a year or so back. I'll have to dig it up. In short, when you give up a defensive or special teams TD and don't get one back from your D or special teams, you have a very low chance of winning the game. In other words, if your QB is throwing pick 6's or INTs that start the opponent in field goal range, he's killing your chance of winning that game. No single stat can tell the whole story, but some carry more weight than others.

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