Holy Diver

Anyone notice Bruschi pushing Wilfork on all of the extra points and field goal attempts?

Now I know its illegal to jump on someone's back while attempting to block a kick, but is the 350lb lineman PLOW illegal? If not, good luck to teams trying field goals against big vince this year.

bbabin

I was wondering about this as well. I had read some comments noting that in both blocks the linemen were being pushed by both Bruschi and Vrabel. Is this common practice, or something new dreamed up by BB? If its an original idea, it sure seemed to work Friday night. Maybe Carolina just had some special teams problems but can you imagine if kicks could be blocked with regularity? It could change the 'take the easy three' mindset.

Metaphors

I didn't notice the LBers pushing the DL. What I did notice was the middle of Carolina's line exploding backwards like they were playing on ice. Never seen anything like it and it happened twice! The long snapper is probably in therapy for PTWD (post-traumatic Wilfork disorder).

The amazing part for me wasn't that the Carolina protection melted like butter...it was the fact the Wilfork was able to stay upright. He must have gotten incredible leverage to ragdoll the protection and not get cut down.

Flying Fungi

It was described as Bruschi and Vrabel 'bench-pressing' Wilfork and Green respectively. Wilfork got the first block, with the assist to Bruschi, and Green was powered into the second block by Vrabel.

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ctpatsfan77

If it isn't legal, it should be.

Seriously, though, I would think it isn't legal, but I guess it is. . . .

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FreeTedWilliams

It is illegal to push the ball carrier, so I guess it is not illegal to push a lineman. What is illegal is that you can not use the lineman in front of you as a trampoline during a kick. You can not jump onto or off another player while trying to block a kick.

So I think the push Vince through the long snapper's head is a legal play. Watch the next game, and I guarenntee at least one bad snap because the guy is worried about getting plowed over by VINCE!!!!

I think that thier is a rule about not pounding the head of the long snapper into the ground. I'll try to look it up.

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FreeTedWilliams

Here is the rule:

It will be illegal for a defensive player to jump or stand on any player, or be picked up by a teammate or to use a hand or hands on a teammate to gain additional height in an attempt to block a kick (Penalty: 15 yards, unsportsmanlike conduct).


http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/kicksfromscrimmage

So I guess pushing lineman is OK.
no rule against it:
http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/useofhands

Imagine they have blocked two kicks without Seymour in there.

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patsox23

I wondered about the "bench-pressing" comment, too. Clearly it's legal, but is it common? Is this simply "how it's done" or some kind of innovation? I'd be pretty surprised if no one had ever thought to do this about a zillion times in the history of the league, but I've just never heard it described that way.

willdeespats

It looks to me like this is something new that BB has come up with. When Seymour was in there, it was a vertical leap to try to use his height to get a hand on the ball. Nor do I ever recall, Wilfork being in there for field goals. I suspect the Carolina game was a trial and this new approach will get further refined in future use. Now that other teams have seen how effective this horizontal approach is, I suspect they will also try it (and maybe on us). I wonder if BB has a counter developed yet!

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Fixit

That man probably perfected the counter before he taught the original tactic, kind of like perfecting the antidote before releasing the poison.