Kneeling play, LB dives at QB

[Bob M.]

REPLY: The issue of Team A saying they're taking a knee presents a few problems but they're all based upon conflicting desires if less than a TD+2 separates the two teams. Team A has "given up" scoring and wants the game to end; Team B is looking for any opportunity to keep the game going with the hope that they'll get a turnover and possibly score. And that presents what I feel is the problem of telling the D to take it easy. What if the QB muffs the snap and the ball rolls loose near the neutral zone. And the D is just standing there because you told them to take it easy? Your warning has essentially taken away their last opportunity to possibly get the ball and score. How would you deal with that?

If the offense tells us they're taking a knee, we do this: Tell both teams that the game's not over. They MUST continue to protect themselves and play football. We tell the defense especially to be very aware when the ball becomes dead. We tell the QB to get to his knee in a hurry. We also bring all the officials in tight. Any late hits will be dealt with severely (read DQ). The biggest problem in this situation is not the defense...it's rather the offensive line who relaxes thinking that just because they want the game to end, the defense is going to comply. They leave gaps through which the defense has an unobstructed path to a QB who may be slowly going to his knee. If the O-line can be made to realize that there's still a game going on, and block like it, much of the problem would go away. Just my opinion...