Launch time is over for NFL defenders

Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu always has been considered a grounded NFL star.

Now, the rules mandate it.

One of the adjustments the league has made to unnecessary-roughness penalties this season is that players can no longer “launch” into opponents. Launching is defined as a player leaving both feet prior to contact in order to spring upward and forward into an opponent and deliver a blow with any part of the helmet.

That doesn’t mean a defender cannot leave his feet or dive to make a play, but that he must lower his target so he’s not on an upward trajectory. It’s a sometimes subtle distinction and one to which players such as Polamalu are still adjusting.

“We’re pretty instinctual at this point,” said Polamalu, whose team opens at Baltimore on Sunday. “I’m going into my 20th year of football. You just can’t change those things overnight.”

So will that mean there could be more penalty flags flying all over the league?

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” he said. “If that’s what the rule states, that’s what it states.”

Fellow Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark, making an observation and not a threat, predicted there could be a spike in knee injuries to offensive players if defenders take the go-low mentality to extremes.

“ACL, MCL and meniscus injuries may go up because guys are going to have to take knees out and go low just to make sure you’re not committing those penalties,” Clark said.

That said, even with the new safety rules, Clark doesn’t expect that receivers will feel any more comfortable or secure running routes over the middle.

“They’re still receivers,” Clark said. “They’ve been playing this game a long time and they know that when you catch balls over the middle, there’s going to be contact. That’s not going to change. Guys are still going to get hit. There are still going to be some bang-bang plays. There are still going to be some plays where referees are going to have to make judgment calls.

“You can’t take a guy who’s been playing 10 years in this league a certain way and make him stop.”

Go for it

Judging by the way they waited until the brink of the season’s start to release quarterback David Garrard, the Jacksonville Jaguars are not risk-averse.

They take that attitude on the field too, where last season they went for it on fourth down an NFL-high 16 times, converting 12 of those for first downs. St. Louis was the league’s most efficient team in that department, converting five of five attempts, but here are the five teams that tried it the most:

Team / Conversion-Att. / Pct.

Jacksonville / 12-16 / 75.0

Cincinnati / 7-11 / 63.6

Philadelphia / 7-10 / 70.0

Dallas / 6-9 / 66.7

Green Bay / 3-9 / 33.3

Off the air

Even though there were indications in the preseason that there might be more TV blackouts this season — San Diego and the three Florida teams had problems selling enough tickets, for instance — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league’s projections don’t show an uptick from last season’s 26 blackouts.

That’s not to say Goodell is unconcerned.

“We’re aware of what’s going on in the economy,” he said in an interview before the opener in Green Bay. “It’s a difficult economy. It’s impacting on our fans, it’s impacting our partners. We’re aware of that and we’re working harder to sell tickets, to be more creative in our policies, and to encourage the type of activities to get people into our stadiums.”

Tampa Bay is the only home team blacked out this weekend. The Buccaneers were the only franchise to have all eight of their regular-season home games blacked out last season.

Off on right foot

Pittsburgh has won eight consecutive games on kickoff weekend, the league’s longest current streak. Should they beat Baltimore in their opener, the Steelers would tie the Chicago Bears (1984-92) for the fourth-most consecutive season-opening victories.

The most consecutive games won all-time in season openers (*active):

Team / Years / Number

Dallas Cowboys / 1965-1981 / 17

Miami Dolphins / 1992-2002 / 11

Detroit/ Portsmouth / 1930-1939 / 10

Chicago Bears / 1984-1992 / 9

Pittsburgh Steelers / 2003-present / *8

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