If the first game of the NFL season is any indication there won’t be so many penalty flags flying during the regular season after yellow was everywhere during exhibition games.
That could be good news for the Falcons—especially starting cornerbacks Robert Alford Desmond Trufant—when then they play the Saints on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
Trufant in particular likes to play physical, press coverage against wide receivers. Illegal contact (against eligible receivers more than five yards down field) and defensive holding are two of the five points of emphasis for officials this season.
“If you worry about it too much it will slow you down,” Trufant said Friday. “I definitely like to use my hands and get in guys’ faces and things like that, but you definitely have got to play within the rules. I am adjusting. Hopefully they don’t call it as tight.”
In the first game of the regular season Thursday between the Packers and Seahawks , there were just two penalties for illegal contact and defensive holding. Green Bay linebacker Brad Jones was called once for each infraction.
The number of penalties for illegal contact and defensive holding skyrocketed during the exhibition season as compared to 2013. According to the NFL, there were 165 defensive holding penalties in exhibition games this year as compared to 39 in 2013 and 97 illegal contact penalties compared to 10.
Alford was called a team-high three times for defensive holding (one was declined) during 2014 exhibition games. Three players were called once for holding: Trufant, reserve safety Sean Baker (offset by an opponent penalty) and nickel cornerback Josh Wilson (declined). None of the Falcons still on the roster were penalized for illegal contact.
“As (defensive backs) we have to definitely adjust,” Trufant said. “I don’t think they are going to call it as tight as they did in the preseason but they are still looking for it. We’ve just got to play with good technique and we will be all right.”
The Seahawks complained that the emphasis on illegal contact and defensive holding were a reaction to their defensive backs’ physical style of play. Seattle dominated the Broncos in the last Super Bowl in large part by shutting down Denver’s passing game.
Offensive players would seem to be in favor of less contact by defensive backs but Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones said so many penalties “messes with the flow” of the game. Roddy White agreed, though his gripe was with being called twice during exhibition games for offensive pass interference, which is another point of emphasis.
“That’s good they don’t want you to hold,” White said. “You play us, you are going to have to hold or we are going to be open. But during the preseason they were throwing too many flags. Every time you touched somebody, they were calling it.”
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