The NFL features tough competition among its 32 teams, growing even more intense as the season progresses. This fierce battle frequently leads to frightening injuries that can seriously impact players. Some injuries are severe enough to end a player’s entire season.
Many times, these injuries occur due to some unique strategy that players apply on the field to smash their opponents. Just like Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts‘ infamous “tush push” strategy, the hip-drop tackle has also raised eyebrows in the NFL community lately.
What is a hip-drop tackle in the NFL?
The hip-drop tackle is an NFL move in which a defender encircles the runner before dropping his weight down to the opposite player’s ankle or knee to bring him to the ground. The tackle results in a good aftermath when a smaller defender faces a larger rival. However, as the runners may fail to protect themselves following this tackle, they often sustain.
“But when they do it, the runner becomes defenseless. They can’t kick their way out from under. And that’s the problem. That’s where the injury occurs. You see the ankle get trapped underneath the weight of the defender”, Rich McKay said during league meetings on Oct. 17.
The tackle hit the headlines in the 2022 postseason when the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard suffered injuries due to it.
Most recently, Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson put a potential end to the Cowboys tight end Mark Andrews’ season by trying this tackle. Wilson got the Cowboys veteran Lamar Jackson with a tough tackle in the first half as well, albeit the QB could successfully finished the contest.
Why is hip-drop tackle on the verge of being banned in the NFL?
Days ago, Rich McKay, the chairman of the NFL’s Competition Committee, termed the hip-drop tackle as a “cousin” of the horse collar, which was banned in 2005 following a series of injuries in 2004. Even the NFL executive Jeff Miller expressed his concern at the league meetings saying the hip-drop tackles have resulted in an increased rate of injury by 25%. He also revealed the league is looking to put an end to them due to ever-intensifying injury rate.
“It is an unforgiving behavior and one that we need to try to define and get out of the game. To quantify it for you, we see an injury more or less every week in the regular season on the hit-drop,” he said via NBC Sports.
Now, Dianna Russini of “The Athletic” shared an update about the issue saying the tackle might “soon be banned”.
However, the NFLPA is publicly against outlawing the tackle as it believes the play would be “too tricky to officiate”. Meanwhile, a league source told Dianna that the discussion of banning the controversial move has already on “the table of contents of things to discuss in the offseason” with the NFL competition committee.
What’s your take on the hip-drop tackle? Tell us in the comments.
