Vikings remain baffled by NFL’s new roughing-the-passer rule 
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Because his father was a big fan of Deacon Jones, Sheldon Richardson grew up watching old films of the legendary pass rusher.
Jones coined the term
“sack,” and used such tactics as the head slap on opposing offensive linemen. Richardson, a Vikings defensive tackle, can only imagine what he could accomplish if the NFL allowed him the same leniency as Jones had in the 1960s.
“You remember how Deacon Jones used to get sacks and stuff like that?” Richardson said Monday.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a way lot different now.”It sure is.
The NFL this season has changed the way it interprets roughing the quarterback, and as a result, defensive players are drawing more flags — and are more confused than ever about what constitutes a rules infraction.
Richardson was penalized in the Sept. 9 opener against San Francisco and was fined $20,054 by the NFL. Linebacker Eric Kendricks was flagged in Sunday’s 29-29 tie at Green Bay.
“I told him, ‘Shake it off, I know the feeling,’ ” said Richardson, who plans to appeal his fine. “Just be expecting (a fine).”
According to the penalty tracker at nflpenalties.com,
there have been 21 roughing-the-[b]passer penalties through two weeks,[/b] the Packers leading the way with four for minus-52 yards.
The Vikings benefited from one of them on Sunday. With 1:45 left in regulation and Minnesota trailing 29-21, Kirk Cousins threw an interception that would have essentially sealed a Packers victory only to have it negated by a roughing-the-passer call on linebacker Clay Matthews.
Matthews said it was a “terrible call.” Even Cousins, in an interview with Peter King’s Football Morning in America, said it was “probably a generous call, and two or three year ago, it probably doesn’t get flagged.”
After the game, referee Tony Corrente told a pool reporter Matthews was flagged because he “lifted (Cosuins) and drove him to the ground.” Officials also have been penalizing tacklers for putting their full body weight on quarterbacks rather than rolling off after a hit.
So what’s a defender to do?
“There’s adjustments we have to be making on defense, but I’m going to keep playing by the rules and playing hard,” Kendricks said. “But is it only going to be the defense getting fined, penalized?”
Vikings safety Harrison Smith, who avoided penalty on a sack against the 49ers, said rushing the passer has become more difficult.
“It’s a conversation going on in every locker room around the league right now,” he said. “It’s really hard, especially with how good these quarterbacks are. Maybe keep a foot on the ground and roll to the side. It’s a lot harder to do in real life than it is to talk about.”
Despite the rules crackdown, Smith doesn’t blame the officials.
“The refs are in a hard spot, too, because I know that’s what they’re told to call,” he said. “It’s a tough game for us, it’s a tough game for them. I think most defensive players don’t like it, but it is what it is, you’ve got to learn how to play within it.”
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer believes one reason scoring is up through two weeks is the emphasis being placed on protecting the quarterback. Zimmer, though, has been mystified by some of the penalties.
“They’re making it really difficult on defenders, because you have to hit him in a certain spot and then you hit him and they start to go backwards,” Zimmer said. “Your momentum is going to carry you. I’ve even seen guys as they start going to the ground, they put their hands out and they still call it.”The rules are different than last season, and certainly much different than in the days of Jones earned seven Pro Bowl selections as an end with the Los Angeles Rams. Sacks didn’t become an official statistic until 1982, but Pro Football Weekly once reported that Jones had three seasons of 20 or more sacks in the 1960s.
So how many sacks does Richardson believe he would get if he could play by the same rules as Jones?
“Probably about the same about as he did,” Richardson said.
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