RGIII undergoing total reconstructive surgery: out 6-8 months

Bill Parcells had a good segment on the Read Option offense and he basically said it won't work long in the NFL because teams next year will focus on punishing the QB everytime it's ran. Jason Taylor basically said the same today on ESPN.

My question is what was stopping them from doing that this year then?

You can't just give up 15 yard roughing penalties all day.

My question is what was stopping them from doing that this year then?

You can't just give up 15 yard roughing penalties all day.


It won't be a roughing penalty because he's considered a runner.

It won't be a roughing penalty because he's considered a runner.not when he puts his arms up

Robert Griffin III: Now I know when it’s legal for defenses to hit me | ProFootballTalk (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/27/robert-griffin-iii-now-i-know-when-its-legal-for-defenses-to-hit-me/)

Parcells and Taylor are stupid
1) you cant punish a QB if you cant catch him when he runs
2) you cant punish a QB if he slides and/or runs out of bounds to avoid contact, unless you want a flag
3) I noticed Wilson and Kaepernick doing the same thing RGIII does - after handing the ball off to the RB, when defenders are near, they quickly lift their hands up to show defenders they dont have the ball - if theyre touched, its 15 yards.

Unless the rules change, anything defenses do to try to "punish" QBs running the option will result in first downs for the offense.

This. "Old school" football might have allowed that method of stopping it, but now you can't take cheap shots just because the qb faked a handoff. Which is another part of it, and why the stretch option should be stricken from our playbook, if Griffin (or any qb) starts running and at the last second pitches it, he ought to be fair game for a hit, but the way the zone read option is being used, the qb isn't running with the ball unless a clear lane opens to him. He may:
** pass (protected by rules)
** handoff(protected as soon as he throws his hands up and clears that he doesn't have it),
or
**run (where he can get slammed but only should run if a defender isn't barreling down on him)

Taylor and Parcells just aren't looking at it in the right context. A lot of opponents of it aren't.

It won't be a roughing penalty because he's considered a runner.

It's a penalty if he doesn't have the ball.

It's a penalty if he doesn't have the ball.

The problem is that he's carrying out the fakes and the defense doesn't know he doesn't have the ball. They aren't going to penalize the defense on this. They didn't the whole season.

The problem is that he's carrying out the fakes and the defense doesn't know he doesn't have the ball. They aren't going to penalize the defense on this. They didn't the whole season.yesnot when he puts his arms up

Robert Griffin III: Now I know when it’s legal for defenses to hit me | ProFootballTalk (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/27/robert-griffin-iii-now-i-know-when-its-legal-for-defenses-to-hit-me/)

My question is what was stopping them from doing that this year then?

You can't just give up 15 yard roughing penalties all day.

How many times in the Dallas game did D.Ware have a clear, clean shot at RGIII and didn't take it?

If the Taylor/Parcells method is right, Ryan should have instructed Ware to just flatten Griffin every play and let others worry about Morris. I can think of only 3 reasons he didn't do so: (1) Ryan knew it was illegal to do so; (2) Ryan is too stupid to figure this out; (3) Ryan is too classy to try a borderline legal tactic that might cause injury to an opposing player.

Okay, so two reasons.

In this day and age where a cheap shot 15 penalty can also result in a fine later on in the week from the league office and a possible ejection, it maybe easy to say "just go ahead and hit the guy anyway", but the next question is "Who is paying my fine when I do?"

I'm with Matty on this one. Why is everyone coming up with such easy solutions, but not a single team has been able to implement it this year?

The best way I've seen to stop the Zone option read is to play disciplined football even if the running back is getting 4 yards a pop. Stick with your assignments, get burned a little bit on the run inside, don't give up the huge 20+ yard plays on the outside.