The NFL has come a long way over the years.
The league is always looking for ways to make the game more entertaining, which usually leads to more scoring.
Between penalties, new rules, and questionable officiating, one could argue that it’s never been more difficult to play defense in the league.
Even so, we’ve seen a downtick in scoring in the first two weeks of the season, and Mel Kiper Jr. blames one particular defensive scheme for that.
In his latest appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Kiper urged the league to ban the two-high safety formation.
.@MelKiperESPN believes two-high safeties “should be outlawed” 👀
“The NFL is being ruined by these two-high safeties.” pic.twitter.com/d65PFJysIq
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 19, 2024
He started his rant by stating that, back in the day, we saw explosive pass plays, which are now being prevented by these formations.
That leads quarterbacks to just dink and dunk their way down the field with screen passes, check-downs, and bubble screens.
Needless to say, Kiper’s controversial take unleashed choas on social media, up to the point where Richard Sherman just couldn’t take it.
The former star DB took to X to call him out, stating that defenses were already handicapped enough.
One of the most ridiculous takes I think I have seen from him. The Defense is handicapped enough with all the penalties and now you want to take away half of a defensive playbook because you want to see long passes. Don’t challenge the Offensive Coordinators to be more creative… https://t.co/AAN8ia3iFU
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) September 19, 2024
Truth be told, he has a valid point, and it’s not like those formations are new; they’ve been around for decades.
Also, it’s not like scoring has been down for years; this season has been an outlier.
We’re seeing more explosive plays now than ever, and old-school football fans should make up their minds.
If there are a lot of points and passing plays, they complain about the game not being won on the trenches and defense not being played anymore.
And when defenses start prevailing, they call for a rule change.
Let’s just enjoy the game as it is.
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