Diner morning news: Odds are anyone’s guess

Remove the three point stance, that's like rugby without a scrum. Let us eliminate piling on the football for fumble recoveries next?

Zone blocking involves a lot of high hat/arm blocking instead of shoulder blocking on initial contact. It gets you further upfield for tracking linebackers to block, and gets you off line contact faster. Push blocking is basically slowing the line down until the bacak reaches a point, then moving off it to get someone else. With that much high hat technique, heads are up, pad levels are high, there are fewer people going to the ground though, and that has seen a change in the types of injuries.

In all honesty the NFLPA is pretty laissez faire on performasnce enhancers and overall testing.Guys are getting too big for their own good to not end up getting hurt more in this collision sport.
Steelers eleven to one? Make sure Ben has his aspirin ready.

"What I find interesting is that Vegas oddsmakers can make these kinds of predictions when everyone who is intimately involved in the NFL knows the next three months can change the power structure of the league." - Michael Lombardi

Every time you talk about vegas odds, you employ the same fallacy: that Vegas odds makers are predicting future results. VEGAS DOESN'T CARE ABOUT FUTURE RESULTS. All they care about is getting people to bet, and spreading the action across the teams in a way that is mathematically favorable to them.

It doesn't matter to them even a tiny bit what changes in the next 11 months. If they have too much financial liability in one team winning, they can always change the odds later to balance their books.

"Of the top 10 teams below, only New England, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will have the ability to make any player moves they want based on operating in the uncapped year."

I believe Green Bay should be on this list as well.

"Of the top 10 teams below, only New England, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will have the ability to make any player moves they want based on operating in the uncapped year."

I believe Green Bay should be on this list as well.

At the core, we're talking about probabilities, which are not affected by actual outcomes. Just because the Jets won a couple playoff games does not mean that someone screwed up in saying they were unlikely to go that far, it means that they beat the odds. The outcome of the SB doesn't invalidate the pre-game odds favoring the Colts - but knowing how Sean Payton was going to call the game, or that Freeney's ankle wouldn't hold up for a whole game might have changed how probable a Saints win would be predicted.

But Jack has a salient point - the Vegas odds are about betting as much as about outcomes.

Godell is a jack**s. i will not watch profootball again if he goes away with three poitn stance. This guy is bad for the game.

I admit to being confused by the reference to eliminating three point stances. Maybe they have data that show the stance contributes to head trauma, but I haven't seen it, nor have I seen it on the field. Most concussions seem to come from a guy's head being slammed into the ground on a tackle or RBs getting a knee to the head. Other than a softer field or larger helmets, I can't see a lot of room for improvement.

meateater
I believe current medical research on the subject leads us to believe that lineman take many hits to the head suffering from multiple, albeit minor concussions. The cumulative effect of these minor concussions have just as severe repercussions for the player as the fewer more severe concussions. Bigger helmets seem to be the answer. Perhaps allowing/forcing linemen to wear the bigger helmets in combination with making "spearing" a severe penalty (for the protection of both players) for the RB/WR/LB/DB would work? Eliminating the 3 point stance would create less head contact for the DL/OL thereby eliminating a lot of the potential minor concussions. I wonder what they'll do for the poor centers and L Snappers though?

This is an interesting column, Lombardi. Hopefully my Broncos are better than Vegas thinks they are but we'll see what happens. Eliminating the 3-point stance may seem blasphemous, according to the way we were all brought up playing and watching futebol americano. I'm sure when I go to the NAB in Las Vegas in April, the odds will have already changed. Sorry, bookies, I go to Vegas for the great buffets and the night shows. We Mormons try not to gamble and even if I were that kind of Mormon, I don't have any money, so why would casinos care about me getting down? You can't gamble with pennies.... Thanks again!

I better rule change would be to eliminate tackling without wrapping up, which is illegal in rugby. Nothing more depressing to me than watching corners throw their torsos parallel to the ground hoping Adiran Peterson will trip over them, or seeing Terrance Newman throwing his shoulders at every reciever that catches a pass in his area. While we're at it, lets eliminate hitting receivers while they are in the air, fair catches outside of your own 20, radios in helmets, and false start penalties.

What's wrong with eliminating 3 point stance? I can't see how it changes the plays a coach would call... And it'd be nice to see a former lineman in his 60's that can feed himself soup.

Football is organized mayhem,there will be injuries,career ending,life changing,and certainly permanent in some cases.
Something needs to be figured out about reducing concussions certainly,
but haven't we tinkered with the on field game enough?
I'm all for protecting players,both now and after they leave the game.
Firstly enforce the present rules,if you watch nearly any game,you see spearing
head shots and players leading with their helmets.
How many times have you see a fumble caused by a helmet hitting the ball?
There are way too many noncalls for these types of hits.
The referees went wild in calling the horsecollar tackle,but have ignored
much more dangerous hits in many cases.
Granted the players are bigger,stronger and faster;but has the equipment kept pace with that?
I think not.
Limiting techniques using the head are a start,as is research into the best helmet designs.
I would also suggest the effect of many of the field materials on concussions,
is a bigger factor than blocking techniques.
Artificial turf is fast and relatively easy to maintain.
But it is better or worse for the health of the players?
I'd would suggest it's worse in my opinion,address that first;before diluting the game any further.

"The rules have changed so much that the NFL is a passing league."

Really? Have the rules changed THAT much? Other than the 5-yard contact zone established about five years ago, what rule has actually changed? Maybe they enforce interference more, but what other rule changes have been implemented?

Ben, the myriad rules protecting QBs makes it easier to throw downfield, and safer to call more pass plays. But ML is probably referring back more than five years with his comment.