Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Could somebody tell me what happened to the In-Grasp-Rule when tackling a quarterback?

Two of the past three years in the Meadowlands,  Eagle defensive lineman have had Eli Manning almost down and he escaped.   Scores followed.  While Philadelphia won both games, they were needlessly close.  I am not certain if  the players not involved just relaxed or they feared officials might flag them.

2009-Halfway through the fourth the Eagles were leading 45 to 31.   New York had the ball at their own 40.  Falling from sack, which would have been a five yard loss, Eli Manning shoveled a pass to Ahmad Bradshaw.  That went for 30 yards and set up a touchdown.  A sack there and, most likely, the game is over.  Philadelphia won 45 to 38.
2011-Late in the second period with the Eagles leading 10 to 0, Manning was almost down when he threw for a first down.  The Giants kicked a field goal before halftime.  The Philadelphia Eagles won 17 to 10.

When you  get hold of Eli Manning, finish the job.

In the grasp still exists. They were calling it too tight in the 1980s
and in 1991 they loosened it.

They said it was only supposed to be called, more or less,
when the QB was in danger.

Generally, I took that to mean one guy had him and another
could come and give him a shot, among other things.

So, it is called much less than back in the day. However
it does get called on occasion . . . I remember it
a few times this year.

You can often tell right away when the QB starts
yelling at the QB that he does not like the call.

It's gotten a bit ridiculous. We've seen of late a defender have Brady in the grasp, then let him go as he feared any further aggressive move with him in the grasp would lead to 15 yards (it absolutely would) well Brady slipped out and walked in for a TD.

He should've been able to just take him to the turf with a clear conscious, but the rules they've put into place literally expect defenders to break the laws of physics. To me if you've got a full bearhug on a QB for about 2 seconds or so and the QB is pretty much stationary then in the grasp should be called. There are instances where a QB will fight out of it, slip away...so you have to give him a chance if he is still not fully under the defenders control. But if you pretty much have him locked up but haven't brought him down then the play is over