The Bears and Ravens kicked off the 2018 season on Thursday in the Hall of Fame Game and the two biggest storylines were Lamar Jackson's debut (it was exactly what you'd expect from a rookie quarterback) and the implementation of the league's new helmet rule. (A distant third on the list: The Ravens won, 17-16.)
The Ravens were flagged three times -- all iffy-at-best calls -- in what coaches, players and fans are hoping isn't a preview of things to come. Perhaps the most questionable flag came on safety Bennett Jackson's textbook tackle that he described after the game as "perfect."
Teammate and safety Eric Weddle, who was one of countless starters who didn't see the field, took to Twitter to voice his complaint.
This is a clinic teach tape play for a safety. No chance they make this call in regular season. Guess we have to let them catch it, take 2 steps then hit them. Hahaha. https://t.co/F88VtHzdYF
— Eric Weddle (@weddlesbeard) August 3, 2018
Meanwhile, Jackson reiterated what NBC's Cris Collinsworth pointed out during the game: The officials have been instructed during the preseason to throw flags first and ask questions later.
"I feel like they're trying to harp on it a lot more in preseason, so they're going to throw flags even on times when it's not necessarily head to head, just to make people aware of it," Jackson said, via ESPN.com's Jamison Hensley. "I spoke to the ref. He even said, 'Hey, it's preseason, we got to throw the flag.'"
Ravens coach John Harbaugh wasn't interested in discussing the penalties after the game, echoing the sentiments of just about everyone.
"I don't know enough about the rule to understand it right now," he said.
The plan is that by throwing flags now, during the preseason, the officials can determine what constitutes a violation of the new helmet rule. And that's perfectly reasonable, especially since the goal is to make the game safer. The problems arise, however, when what seems to be a straightforward rule is misinterpreted during a critical regular-season game and affects the outcome. That's when fans lose their minds and the NFL's PR department has to jump into crisis mode.
Jackson offered a glimmer of hope.
"In the regular season, I don't think it's going to be thrown as much," he said before adding, "but who knows?"
