What NFL Rules Would You Fix/Change/Add/Remove?

onanygivensunday

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Ironically, the NFL says they changed the kickoffs to allow MORE returns. How is that working out for ya, NFL?
IIRC, the Rules Committee recommended adopting the rule with the proviso... if the ball is kicked into the endzone, the touchback spots the ball at the 35 yard-line, which is more of a deterrent to kicking it into the endzone than how the rule was adopted by the owners... that is, spot it at the 30 yard-line.

The league should tweak the rule as originally recommended by the Rules Committee and give it a one-year trial.
 

onanygivensunday

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Touchbacks starting at the 30 is ridiculous. Make it the 20 again. And get rid of the rule saying you have to declare an onside kick. That’s just stupid and eliminates part of the strategy of the game.

I also wish they would de-emphasize holding such that only holds that obviously impact the play get called. It’s not a rule change as much as a philosophy one, and it makes it more of a judgement call — which could be dicey. But I’m tired of seeing plays get called back because someone held ten yards away from where the play actually occurred.
I personally don't like adding more judgement calls to the game.

I believe that the League has been trying to eliminate them for good reason. Example... the old facemask rule being changed to eliminate judging if the infraction was "incidental" (or not).
 

onanygivensunday

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Re offensive holding calls, regardless of what counts as an infraction and/or what the penalty is (10 yards vs 5 yards, or loss of down), the offensive players will ALWAYS push the envelope of what they can get away with... on every play in every game... for as long as the game of football is played.

I'm okay with the way that the rule is now. Yes, the penalty is pretty stiff... but if you were to make it 5 yards instead of 10 yards, have you really made a change for the better? I don't think so.

Generally, the rules favor the offense. Offensive holding is one of the few checks that keeps some balance in place.
 

onanygivensunday

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The only rules that I would change at this time are associated with field goals. The game has pivoted over time to strongly favor teams with big-legged, accurate kickers... too much so in my opinion. For many teams, if their offense can get the ball to their opponents 40-yard line, a field goal is too often the outcome.

Way back... before the soccer-style kickers came into the league, the goal posts were on the goal line (not 10 yards back as they are today)... and if a field goal were missed, the rules called for a touchback with the ball spotted at the 20-yard line. With those rules in place, the "game" became a game of field goal attempts because if you missed the kick, your team flipped the field.

Come back to today, WAY too many kickers are scoring field goals with kicks of 50+ yards.

My suggestion... move the goal posts closer together. Right now they are 6 yards, or 18 feet apart. Reduce that to 4 yards (12 feet) apart.

The net effect would be a reduction in the number of field goal attempts... and an increase in the number of 4th down attempts, which are always more interesting than field goal attempts
 

onanygivensunday

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Re the suggestions about putting a chip in the ball to improve spotting accuracy and goal-line TD calls... there's a couple of points that I feel need be made.

1. Accurately spotting the ball requires two elements that need to be established... the (1) location of the ball... (2) when the player is downed by contact. Adding a chip to the ball addresses only one of the elements... the location of the ball.

The point in time when the player is determined to be downed by contact must still be established... and then meshed with the location of the ball at that point in time.

2. Where on/in the ball do you put the chip? Both ends? Around the circumference at it widest spot? Or are there 25 chips all over inside the ball?

And this obviously affects the effectiveness of goal line TD calls involving a ball with a chip(s)... and you still have to establish #1 above.

Just some thoughts to consider.
 

Torc

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It occurred to me while watching the Seahawks and Packers, in relation to the pass interference rule:

I'm really tired of underthrown balls getting a PI. When they're overthrown, they can be called uncatchable and no foul. But the QB UNDERthrows it, the receiver slows down and the DB runs into them, and they call PI every time.

Bad throws should not get 40 yard penalties.
 

NoGain

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There have been some good ones to consider here. I think narrowing the goalposts by a few feet might make FG's harder and coaches reconsider whether to kick it or go for it. I'd maybe make it so each team has like 8 players on the kickoff. This would make kickoffs more exciting. I would also train NFL referees to not throw flags when certain penalties have had no outcome upon the play, or at least conference after it's called to determine if the penalty had any outcome on the play. I'm sick of too many penalties and penalties called that had no outcome on the play.

I could think of more...
 

nanomoz

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Automatic first down on illegal contact/defensive holding? Naaaahhhhh.
 

Maulbert

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Love it. I had a similar thought in the offseason and never got around to making a thread. But I'll throw some ideas into yours.

I agree on the spot fouls. The risk is that defenders 30 yards down field will figure it's better to take the 15 yards than the longer play. But at least it isn't cheap yards on a pass that might not have been caught.

I think offensive holding should be a 5 yard penalty. The 10 yard penalty is a drive killer every time, and it's often a very subjective call.


Less of a rule thing but something I think needs to be fixed - salaries for most positions, especially for QBs. It should not be "next man up gets the highest contract". Trevor Lawrence should never, even for a brief time, been the highest paid QB in the league. I get so tired of solid-but-not-great players (again, usually QBs) arguing that they should make more than the most recent contract signing at their position.
If PI becomes a 15 yarder, defenders will tackle open receivers about to make a deep catch.
 
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If PI becomes a 15 yarder, defenders will tackle open receivers about to make a deep catch.

That's a very fair point. How about a penalty for defenders who blatantly do just that, and then it is a spot foul? Like an obvious, egregious penalty becomes a spot foul. Otherwise, run-of-the-mill contact is 15 yards.
 
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