Horse-collar clarification
Some of us were wondering why Oakland defenders weren’t flagged for (apparently) horse-collar tackling Troy Brown and Tim Dwight. Turns out it’s not just as simply as pulling someone down by the collar, as this article on NFL.com mentions:
The committee also seeks to eliminate “horse-collar tackles,” where the defender grabs the ball carrier inside the back of the shoulder pads and immediately drags him down while also falling on his legs. Such tackles would be deemed unsportsmanlike conduct, a 15-yard penalty.
The Oakland defenders never fell on anyone’s legs, so I imagine that’s why no flags were thrown.
Speaking of rules changes, I totally missed the announcement of the change whereby penalties on the kicking team during a punt return can now be tacked on to the end of the return at the receiving team’s option, instead of the receiving team being stuck with either forcing a re-punt or just declining the penalty.