I think we're talking about two different things here.
As Earle has said on this thread, and many ones have said many times: If the DB is out of phase, even by just a little, and looks back, the distance between him and the receiver inevitably increases. That makes both breaking up the pass, and making the tackle after the catch, harder.
In that case, the best chance for forcing an incompletion is to strip the ball out as the WR is trying to secure the catch.
Only if the DB is in phase should he look back.
With consideration of hip position, shoulder position, and footwork in relation to the receiver's, what's in phase and what's not gets complicated beyond my understanding. But if we non-coaches think of it as really, really good coverage vs. anything even the least bit less, we'll have a decent walking around understanding.
Regarding pass interference, turning the head is just one point of evidence that the DB was trying for the ball. When the ball is thrown, the DB and the WR have equal right to it. So if there is contact and the DB is looking back, he can better claim that he's going for a ball that by rule is just as much his as the WR's. If there's contact, and no effort to locate the ball, that case is much harder to make.
If there's no contact, yet there's a PI flag, that's just a bad call, regardless of where the DB's head is.
Again, it's two different issues. One is the impact of locating the ball (or not) on the DB's chances of forcing an incompletion. The other is its influence on whether the refs throw a flag for PI.
As Earle has said on this thread, and many ones have said many times: If the DB is out of phase, even by just a little, and looks back, the distance between him and the receiver inevitably increases. That makes both breaking up the pass, and making the tackle after the catch, harder.
In that case, the best chance for forcing an incompletion is to strip the ball out as the WR is trying to secure the catch.
Only if the DB is in phase should he look back.
With consideration of hip position, shoulder position, and footwork in relation to the receiver's, what's in phase and what's not gets complicated beyond my understanding. But if we non-coaches think of it as really, really good coverage vs. anything even the least bit less, we'll have a decent walking around understanding.
Regarding pass interference, turning the head is just one point of evidence that the DB was trying for the ball. When the ball is thrown, the DB and the WR have equal right to it. So if there is contact and the DB is looking back, he can better claim that he's going for a ball that by rule is just as much his as the WR's. If there's contact, and no effort to locate the ball, that case is much harder to make.
If there's no contact, yet there's a PI flag, that's just a bad call, regardless of where the DB's head is.
Again, it's two different issues. One is the impact of locating the ball (or not) on the DB's chances of forcing an incompletion. The other is its influence on whether the refs throw a flag for PI.
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