Except for the fact that the NFL has been attempting to protect the offensive side of the ball for the last decade and the fans keep going to games and watching. TV numbers are way up everywhere so the fans don't seem to mind the change in rules.

IN the case of the Sydney Rice hit, if the defender just uses his arms to wrap Rice up while blasting him with his shoulder, he would stand just as good a chance of separating the ball from Rice and probably wouldn't have drawn a flag either. Standing over Rice after the hit didn't help the defenders case either.