You’ve seen this type of tackle many times during numerous games over the course of the year, and many times, it can lead to a player being injured.
When Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in the divisional round of the playoffs, many people questioned the legality of the play. The same thing happened to Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard as well.
The type of tackle is not currently illegal to do, but it very well may be in the future. NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said the league acknowledges that kind of “hip-drop” tackle is associated with ankle and leg injuries. The tackle was banned by the National Rugby League in Australia because of the injuries it caused.
“I think it’ll be a very active offseason conversation, to look at the mechanism,” Sills said, via the Washington Post’s Mark Maske. “Obviously the ‘hip-drop’ tackle is not the only cause of high ankle sprains. There are certainly other factors.”
Players on Twitter are not reacting to this news well at all:
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The NFL’s competition committee is expected to look at new rules, and Sills and the league’s medical staff would be involved in those discussions as well.
“We have noted that type of tackle that you mentioned. And I think it needs to be a very active discussion point, again, with the competition committee and others this season,” Sills said.
If this particular tackle is outlawed, then it will make it yet another way that defensive players will have a hard time taking down offensive players. You hit them too hard, it’s a penalty. You tackle them from behind, this could also be a penalty.
At this point, just throw t throw a flag on everybody.
