NFL takes step towards banning the tackle that injured Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill
The Miami Dolphins' 2023 went off the rails late, as they ceded the AFC East to the Buffalo Bills in a 21-14 Week 18 loss. However, the Dolphins could have claimed the same for themselves had they simply taken care of business against the lowly Tennessee Titans back on December 11 on Monday Night football. […]
The Miami Dolphins' 2023 went off the rails late, as they ceded the AFC East to the Buffalo Bills in a 21-14 Week 18 loss.
However, the Dolphins could have claimed the same for themselves had they simply taken care of business against the lowly Tennessee Titans back on December 11 on Monday Night football. The Dolphins blew a 27-13 lead in the final five minutes in falling 28-27.
That game is remembered largely for the ankle injury that star WR Tyreek Hill suffered in the first quarter on a combination horse collar/hip drop tackle by Titans CB Sean Murphy-Bunting that eventually led to Hill leaving the game. As a result, while Miami's defense fell off in the final minutes, its offense also struggled largely to move the ball the rest of the game without Hill.
Now, it appears as though the league is taking steps to try to take the hip drop tackle out of the game altogether. The league's competition committee has proposed a rule banning the tackle.
That's certainly a curious description by using "unweights himself", but it comes down to what the rest of the rule says about twisting and dropping down onto the legs and pinning the ballcarrier, which is pretty well spelled out.
That's exactly what happened when Hill was injured.
The league owners will obviously still have to pass it. However, if that happens, then perhaps the kinds of injuries that happened to Hill and several other players will become less common in today's NFL, where teams' injury reports are becoming longer than a CVS receipt.
Defensive players might not like it, and with the limitations on hits to the head, it has unquestionably become tougher to play defense in the modern-day NFL. However, player safety has to take priority, and the league also certainly doesn't like to see key players in street clothes on the sidelines in crucial late season games and the postseason.
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