NFL Inside Blog

     Today the owners of the NFL voted on some new rules. Some were passed. Some were pushed to be voted on at a later date. The rules that were passed: Expanding the playoff OT rules to the regular season, all turnovers to be reviewed without having a coach challenge, illegally kicking a loose ball is now a loss of downs, too many men on the field is a dead ball foul, a person that receives a crack back block has now become a defenseless player which turns into a 15-yard penalty. Rules that were pushed to a later date: pushing trade deadline from week 6 to week 8, expanding preseason roster to 90 players, a player that is injured on or before week 2 can be put on the IR and still return during the season. Rules that were not passed: have the booth review videos rather than referees on field, banning the horse-collar tackle on the QB.
     My thoughts on these rules. I completely agree with the overtime rule. We can all agree that it is significantly harder to stop a team on defense than it is to score. There are quite a few offenses that just have explosive offenses. If you are able to hold an offense to a field goal then you definitely should be rewarded with a chance to match on offense. This is the best decision they made of the day.
     This one might surprise you. I do NOT agree with the rule that all turnovers are now to be reviewed automatically. Why? This completely takes the human element away from the game. A rule that would make more sense is that you get one challenge per half and if you win you get another, and another, and another, etc.. What is there left to challenge? The spot of the ball? This will raise the percentage of challenges won even more than last year. I have always thought that the human element was a part of the game. Something that should stay in the game. It is slowly being less and less a part of the game. I also think this only slows the game down even more.When a defense recovers a fumble, this really fires the team up. The offense wants to get in their while they have momentum and convert the turnover. Turnovers really silence a team while on the road and to go out there with a silent crowd on the road, only one thing could be better, and that is scoring to really shut them up. If it were a controversial turnover, and it takes five minutes to figure out what actually happened, the fire that was under the team isn't quite as big if they are having to wait five minutes to go out and try and score. Many people have argued that this had a lot to do with making the game longer and being able to have more commercials during games. It may have been part of the decision but I really think they were just trying to make the game better and I just don't agree. Then again, I know a lot of people won't agree with me on that one.
     A person that receives a crack back is now considered defenseless and the person laying the hit will probably be receiving a fine plus there will also be a 15-yard penalty. I do understand that the NFL is trying to make the game safer but seriously? These are the most exciting hits there are! When a player just gets absolutely leveled because he didn't pay attention to where he was on the field. Remember when Kurt Warner got leveled in the playoffs? I love Kurt Warner and he is a hall of famer in my mind, but that was absolutely hilarious! What about when Hines Ward DESTROYED Ed Reed? These are in know way dirty. These are called making a play for your team. Also, how are the refs going to differentiate a big block as apposed to a crack back block? This is also going to really damper down the punt return game. I completely disagree with this rule as it is one of the worst rule changes they have made in recent years.
     By far the most surprising move the NFL made but also, in my opinion, the best decision they made. The NFL denying the rule of making it a penalty to make a horse collar tackle on the QB. There are so many instances as to where this is the only type of tackle a defensive player can make on the QB. I was very surprised they didn't make this a penalty just because of the way the NFL is moving in trying to make it a safer league.
     As for the rule changes that were pushed to a later date, I think they are not nearly as big of an impact as the ones that are made today. We will see how the outcome in the near future.

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