If one is good, three are definitely better!

Back in the good old days of the double reverse pass, SF 49'er dominance (heck, NFC dominance) and football not at all resembling Chinese Checkers, pass rushers were allowed to hit the QB as long as they only took a couple steps after the ball was released. Unnecessary roughness was, oddly, called when plays were unnecessarily rough in the football context. Strange.

I've watched as the league office and officials cracked down, moving from a couple to less than two, then one. Can you imagine if the NBA only allowed one step after you picked up your dribble before you took off for a lay-up? Now, as Cincinnati Bengal Justin Smith learned against Tampa on Sunday, you have to coddle the QB as you take him down, even on a sack. Not only can you not be unnecessarily rough if you want to avoid a penalty, you also have to be extra careful not to let them get injured. Maybe the officials were on heightened alert because Chris Simms had his spleen ruptured; Simms was the Bucs starting QB before being sidelined with the injury. Justin Smith received a 15-yard penalty for routinely sacking the QB. That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen.

I think I have a way to improve the situation that is evolving with the treatment of QB's in the NFL. You can't go low, you can't go high, you can't lead with your helmet, and now you can't tackle them regularly. Maybe they should have flags! Now that I actually wrote that, it seems like that might be the next step for the NFL, though it isn't the recommendation I have in mind. The solution to the roughing the passer epidemic is a graduated system. Roughing the passer is currently 15 yards. Not all roughing the passer fouls are created equal, so why is there a uniform penalty. There are two face mask levels. I think there should be three face mask levels (5, 10, and 15 instead of just 5 and 15). Running into the kicker results in 5 yards, roughing the kicker gives the opponents 15 yards.

There should be multiple levels of roughing the passer, too. I'd lobby for three. If Justin Smith tackles another QB a little too hard, give him a 5 yard penalty. It would be applied to the end of the play and not an automatic first down. Serious offenses would garner the 15 yard penalty and an automatic first down. The medium level would be for slightly late hits that aren't that vicious, going low or high lightly, and other similar infractions. The 10-yarders would also be tacked on to the end of the play, with no automatic first down.

The NFL rules are evolving and that is fine. The QB position is valuable to the league and also to individual teams. I don't really want to watch Indy play without Peyton Manning. Who is the backup for Cincy now that Kitna is in Detroit? Doug Johnson or Anthony Wright. Personally, I'd love to see Tom Brady go down, but I doubt many NE fans want to see Matt Cassell with his hands under center. The penalties need to evolve with the rules, though. Fifteen yards for something that wasn't a foul last year is absurd. It's bad for the game and there is a simple solution. Graduated levels. The punishment should fit the crime. You don't line up the firing squad for someone who steals a pack of gum from the neighborhood 7-Eleven ... at least not in America!