Illegal Contact Penalties Are Way Up

Cowboys cornerback Nathan Jones (33) and other NFL defensive backs are unhappy with the increased number of illegal contact flags this season. (Ted S. Warren -- AP)

Asked this week if he had seen changes in the way illegal contact had been called this season, Billick said tersely, "I did the other night."

Did he think the penalty was being called more often than it should have been?

"I did the other night," he said.

"All of a sudden they seemed to come," he added. "I don't know if there was any agenda involved; it was odd that it came out, the calls, in that series in that way. It was questionable, not just in terms of the rule but the way the game had been called the whole game, and all of a sudden now. It was a little hard to understand."

Still, Billick also said he does not think the illegal contact rule should be revisited in the offseason.

"As with all the rules, you hope for an element of consistency [in officiating]; they strive for that, and I understand that there are going to be mistakes made," he said. "It's unfortunate they were all made the other night, but I'm comfortable with the rule."

Ravens defensive back Gary Baxter was not.

"I've never seen a game where you have four [illegal contacts] back to back," he said after the Colts game. "It's almost like you were scratching your head saying, maybe they are putting [Manning] down there to hurry up and let him get the record or whatever. As a player, we didn't like that, but we just kept fighting. You could sense a lot of guys getting frustrated, and every time a play ended, you looked around to see if there was a flag. It was a lot of flags thrown, and I don't think the other side got any flags on defense."

In Green Bay, veteran safety Darren Sharper also was critical of the officiating against his team in the Jacksonville game.

"It makes the game like no touching," he said. "I always thought this was a contact sport, but it seems as though you can't make too much contact. It makes it tough to play defense, but that's how the league wants it. They want teams to score points."

Green Bay Coach Mike Sherman said that on several illegal contact penalties against the Packers last Sunday, there was no need for his defenders to make any contact and that "it was a lack of discipline in regard to technique." But he also said he believes there has been some inconsistency in the way the rule has been called this season.

"Certainly the league has mandated that the rule be applied and enforced," said Sherman, who served as an adviser to the Competition Committee last year. "I believe they made a conscious effort at the beginning of the season. I think officials backed away from it a little and then they've reinforced it here at the end of the season as we get into the playoffs. They want to make sure they don't have a repeat of what maybe happened last year. We're seeing it enforced. The officials would rather not call it that strongly, but when they're told to, they will. That's my interpretation."

McKay's interpretation is a little different.

"The intent early on in terms of the point of emphasis was to call it in the preseason and not to allow it to tail off," McKay added. "Do it during training camp and do it all year long, and I think that's what we've done. The bottom line on the coaches is that they're willing to accept any rule as long as it's good for the game and as long as it's called consistently. A lot of times inconsistency can creep in, but we told the coaches before the season that we wanted it consistently enforced all year."

And what would he say to all those unhappy defensive backs?

"We knew they'd be complaining," McKay said. "It's a change from what they were allowed to get away with. But that doesn't mean they were right before, either. Just play the game under the rules. That's all we want."

Staff Writers Camille Powell and Jason LaCanfora contributed to this report.