Landry's Crackback Block

[Dave Gray]

So, Landry laid a guy out.  The guy was hurt and Landry was visibly sorry and upset by it.  He was flagged for what I thought they said was a "crackback block."

I don't understand what the rule is.  What is a crackback block?

I saw some things that Landry did, which included hitting the guy way harder than was needed to make a football play, but also perhaps leaving his feet to launch.  In college, it was close to what they call "targeting", but I find that to be pretty broad.

In short, it seems that the injury and everything about it came from the defender running one direction with his head pointing the other and Landry licked him, so the guy didn't see Landry enough to protect his body.  Is this not a penalty if the guy turns his head?

How does that call work?

[Tenshot13]

First things first...crackback blocks are not illegal.  It's when a blocker, almost exclusively a WR, blocks against the grain from the direction the play is moving.  What was illegal was the "targeting" you mentioned. 

I got lit up in a game once back in highschool by a crackback block on a reverse.  I was playing ROLB, when the reverse started going my way again, I was following the play then CRACK! some tiny WR was in my earhole.  Crackbacks suck, especially because the guy being block typically doesn't see it coming.  The CB is supposed to scream "CRACKBACK!" kind of like they would yell "SCREEN" and "DRAW" when they are identified.  The CB on our team was chewed up and down by the coaches for not notifying me about it before I got lit up.

I don't have much sympathy for the guy that got lit up in the game yesterday, other than he got hurt, and no one wants a guy to get hurt.  He hit him square up, he should have seen Landry coming.  The one I took was to the side, so I never had a chance.

But yes, rules are rules, and Landry shouldn't have targeted the guys head.

[Baba Booey]

So, Landry laid a guy out.  The guy was hurt and Landry was visibly sorry and upset by it.  He was flagged for what I thought they said was a "crackback block."

I don't understand what the rule is.  What is a crackback block?

I saw some things that Landry did, which included hitting the guy way harder than was needed to make a football play, but also perhaps leaving his feet to launch.  In college, it was close to what they call "targeting", but I find that to be pretty broad.

In short, it seems that the injury and everything about it came from the defender running one direction with his head pointing the other and Landry licked him, so the guy didn't see Landry enough to protect his body.  Is this not a penalty if the guy turns his head?

How does that call work?

1) Landry launched himself by leaving his feet
2) You aren't allowed to hit a defenseless player to the neck/head area. (doesn't matter if you lead with your shoulder)

Mike Pereira on FOX went over the hit on TV yesterday on one of the FOX halftime shows and it was clearly a penalty and it was dirty according to him.  This is what he said per the newspapers this morning as well on the hit when he was asked to expand on it...“Jarvis Landry was called for a personal foul for a hit on a defenseless player,” Mike Pereira, former NFL head of officiating, said on FOX, where he now is the rules analyst. “It was a crack-back block, and the player that is being blocked in a crack-back block is defenseless, so you can’t hit him in the head or neck area with a shoulder, helmet or forearm. This is clearly a foul and it was called.”

[CF DolFan]

I know you can't hit the head area but I thought it was a shoulder to shoulder hit?  I really didn't understand why it was a penalty either.

[Sunstroke]

It was a brutal hit, no doubt about it, and the fact that the player victim had a previous serious neck injury made it even scarier.

Three inches lower, and no flag comes out of the official's pocket.

[Baba Booey]

I know you can't hit the head area but I thought it was a shoulder to shoulder hit?  I really didn't understand why it was a penalty either.

It wasn't shoulder to shoulder, he got the neck and head area of the Bills player. And the player is defenseless as he isn't looking at you. You can't blindside/hit a player that is defenseless and hit him in the head/neck area to boot.

The find Landry gets will be a big one

[Dave Gray]

How is the defensive player defenseless, though?  His lack of defense is only due to where he is looking.  It's not like he's outstretched for a ball or something. 

I'm not saying it's OK, but I just don't see how it's Landry's fault where the other team's guy has his head turned?  If the guy is watching Landry hit him, it's no longer a penalty?

[BuccaneerBrad]

I saw some things that Landry did, which included hitting the guy way harder than was needed to make a football play, but also perhaps leaving his feet to launch.  In college, it was close to what they call "targeting", but I find that to be pretty broad.

The only difference is, you get ejected for targeting in college.  It's not leaving your feet to launch.  It's hitting an opponent above the shoulder pads with your head or shoulder.  Technically, in order to get flagged for targeting, you have to lead with the crown of your helmet.

[Spider-Dan]

How is the defensive player defenseless, though?  His lack of defense is only due to where he is looking.

That's what makes him defenseless.  And it would have been fine if Landry had just hit him lower.

The rule is not that you can't hit a defenseless player... it's that you can't hit them in the head or neck.

[DaLittle B]

Hal Habib retweeted Mike Pereira,I saw the video off Mike's feed.

It's been explained here,but Mike Perieira was talking about the rule this play (people asked if Landry should have been ejected,because it was his second personal foul)
https://twitter.com/MikePereira/status/790263944271175680/video/1 He states the defenseless player rule,then explains Landry was making a football play,so no ejection.

Slight hijack,he also mentions with a video in a later Tweet mentions Reggie bush's helmet coming off play dead at that spot,but it's close on replay the original call stands of a TD.

[Spider-Dan]

I believe that's the difference between unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct: whether the action takes place as part of playing football.

[Baba Booey]

How is the defensive player defenseless, though?  His lack of defense is only due to where he is looking.  It's not like he's outstretched for a ball or something. 

I'm not saying it's OK, but I just don't see how it's Landry's fault where the other team's guy has his head turned?  If the guy is watching Landry hit him, it's no longer a penalty?

Landry can't hit him to the head/neck area regardless, so if he was looking it's still a penalty. If he was looking and Landry led with his shoulder and hit him in the chest area then its a clean play. The player not looking at you is what makes him defenseless, you can't just drill a guy and blindside him to the head and neck area.

[Phishfan]

As a college football fan who has seen both starting corners kicked out of games this year, we were lucky the NFL has different rules on this.

[Baba Booey]

Dean Balndino  Vice President of Officiating on the Landry Hit

"Here's Landry, he's going to block back toward the football. He can't go to the head-neck area of an opponent within five yards on either side of the line of scrimmage. He is going to go to the head-neck. It is certainly a foul. It is certainly something that we'll review for potential discipline, but it's still a football play, and it's tough to read intent there. That's why the officials kept him in the game. It's not an automatic ejection. It's up to the discretion of the crew and they didn't feel like it was flagrant enough to throw the player out of the game."

[dolphins4life]

Landry has committed several personal fouls during his time with the Dolphins.