The long-time NFL analyst provided his listeners with one of the most outlandish takes you’ll hear all season, expressed as a bid to return to the style of football from decades past
Anyone who has ever played, coached, or watched football will tell you that offensive is easier than it has ever been. There’s never been more pass interference regulations, and quarterbacks and runners are well-protected. Mel Kiper, on the other side, believes that in order to promote explosive play, offenders need to be held even more.
With early-season passing statistics at an all-time low, “two-high” defensive schemes—which assign two safeties to deep coverage—have been the talk of the town in recent weeks. Many people think that the decline in air-based offences is the result of overuse of this strategy.
Whether that’s true or not, two-high defence has been around since the forward pass became so common; it’s simply getting a little more attention lately. In the NFL, both offence and defence undergo constant change throughout time, with certain strategies becoming more well-liked than others during particular periods. The game changes as a result of this never-ending cycle of pushing and pulling; as one changes, the other adjusts. For several ardent supporters, the distinctively strategic aspect of the game is what keeps watching the NFL for decades on end.
Not in Mel Kiper’s opinion. Calling the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s the “Best of the National Football League,” he believes that this kind of defence should be entirely outlawed and proposes that the rules be changed to more closely resemble the play styles of those eras. Kiper suggests that this is a better offensive atmosphere by recalling how often passers would take “deep shots.”
That’s an intriguing perspective, to be sure. In 1965 and 1970, there was only one qualified passer with an average of more than 200 yards per game; by 1975, however, there were four, owing to players like Ken Anderson, Fran Tarkenton, and Roger Staubach.
Before the league expanded to 17 games a season in 1980, only two quarterbacks had reached the 4,000-yard mark, which is now considered the norm for passers in the modern passing game. Only Dan Marino had thrown for at least 4,000 yards in 1985, and Warren Moon was the only one to do so in 1990.
Beyond the question of whether or not such a prohibition is appropriate, the implementation and enforcement of such a law would probably be considered absurd at best and completely ineffectual at worst.
A regulation prohibiting two-high would inevitably have to limit where players can line up because defenders must be free to occupy any part of the field after the snap, or else offences would just send all of their pass-catchers into the restricted zones.
This would essentially be the same as what we currently have, with the possible exception that defences might be able to better conceal their intentions before the snap if a second safety lined up close to the linebackers or cornerbacks and then promptly dropped back to the deep third of the field.
The NFL shouldn’t be enforcing regulations merely to encourage an offensive mindset, and they most definitely shouldn’t be doing so to support a particular offensive approach. Because adding a defender to deep coverage takes up personnel in other areas of the field, there are plenty of opportunities for excellent passers to succeed in the short and intermediate games.
As even MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs sees his average depth of target decline nearly every season, astute offences are adjusting to the new defensive environment. Replicating this strategy of grabbing what is offered in the below gaps isn’t too difficult for teams led by reasonably accurate passers.
There’s no reason the league should alter in order to prevent other teams from falling behind if they aren’t prepared to adapt. The NFL is unique and captivating because it is a dynamic league. Modifying the rules to stop this growth would be detrimental to all innovative and inquisitive football brains, as well as players and coaches who have dedicated their careers to becoming the best versions of themselves for success in the modern game.
