You ever see a tackle that just looks wrong? Like, a guy gets yanked down awkwardly, and you just know something bad happened? That’s the hip-drop tackle for you. It’s basically like a defender wraps up, swings around, and crashes down on a guy’s legs—ouch. And yeah, the NFL noticed. This move has been wrecking ankles and knees left and right, especially in the games when star-studded teams like Josh Allen’s Bills and Lamar Jackson’s Ravens are involved.

The result? The NFL had to step in. And back in March 2024, the NFL clubs voted unanimously to remove the hip-drop tackle from the game. And now, the NFL executive released a statement after a good season following that big decision—at least the NFL believes that the last season was good.

NFL executive Jeff Miller said it was a good first season with the rule banning them. The league is looking at tweaking the rule to help them capture more violations—still a very high rate of injury when hip drop tackles are present. Speaking of which, right before the 2024 season kicked off, the NFL analyzed more than 20k tackles in the previous couple of seasons.

What turned out was pretty basic and predictable. The tackles were causing major injuries at a rate of 20 times higher than the other tackles. Thus, the league decided to ban the controversial tackle and implemented a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down if a player used a hip drop tackle. But the big question—is there a major drop in injuries now that the hip drop tackle is banned?

Of course not. NFL’s not a board game and the injuries are, well, let’s just say, they’re a part of the game. The catch? Well, despite the NFL’s ban on hip-drop tackles last year, injuries from this haven’t vanished. Nah, scratch that. The refs didn’t flag a single hip-drop tackle during games in the last season.

Instead, nearly 30 players were fined after the game. Take Texans‘ running back Joe Mixon, for instance. The guy was sidelined for three games, thanks to a hip drop tackle that didn’t draw a penalty during the game. Sure, the NFL officials have pointed out that spotting these tackles in the heart of the moment is tough for the refs. But one thing’s clear: the injury rate hasn’t declined even after banning this controversial move.

Top Comment by Anonymous

Ruining the game along with the officials

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Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson’s teams used the hip-drop tackle

Remember the week 7 game this past season? Yeah, the one between the Baltimore Ravens and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Oh no, we aren’t gonna talk about how the Ravens thrashed the Bucs out of the park with a 41-31 decisive win. We’re gonna talk about the team’s LB, Roquan Smith.

During the game, Smith hit the Bucs’ wide receiver, Chris Godwin, resulting in the WR dislocating his ankle. Smith wasn’t initially fined for his unnecessary roughness. However, the NFL believed that it was a hip-drop tackle and fined him with a sweet $16,883. BUT! The LB appealed the fine and the NFL hearing officer Jordy Nelson rescinded the $16,883 fine.

Now hold on, because it wasn’t the only case. Fast forward to the AFC divisional round between Josh Allen’s Bills and the Ravens. Buffalo’s defensive tackle Ed Oliver tackled the Ravens’ QB, midway through the 2nd quarter. However, the NFL was sure that it was a hip-drop tackle and slapped Oliver with $16,883 for unnecessary roughness.

So yeah, the NFL banned the hip-drop tackle, but let’s be real—it’s far from a perfect fix. The rule’s got some holes and the way it’s being enforced? Kinda messy. Let’s see what will the next season bring. More injuries or a complete fair play. The odds are favoring the former.