Good rules changes

[rugbythug]

FORCE OUT, FACEMASK RULES CHANGED
Posted by Michael David Smith on April 2, 2008, 11:40 a.m.
NFL teams approved several rules changes at the league meeting today, most of which were an effort to make the rules easier to understand and enforce.

The biggest change is that the force out rule no longer exists. In the past, if a receiver jumped to catch a ball and was pushed out of bounds while he was in the air, officials had to make a judgment call to determine whether he would have come down in bounds. That rule, which many observers felt was enforced inconsistently, has been eliminated, and now it’s simple: If the receiver didn’t touch two feet or one of any other body part in bounds, it’s an incomplete pass.

Five-yard facemask penalties have also been eliminated. Serious face masks involving grabbing or twisting the player’s helmet will remain 15-yard penalties, and minor face masks involving a player accidentally grabbing the mask and immediately letting go will not be flagged at all.

Another rules change involves the opening coin toss, where the NFL will now adopt the college rule that allows the coach to defer his choice of kicking or receiving until the second half.

The league also made field goals on which the ball bounces off the goal post reviewable by instant replay. Last year Browns kicker Phil Dawson made a field goal that passed over the crossbar, bounced off the support post and went back into the field of play. The officials initially ruled the kick no good before correctly ruling it good. Last year they were not permitted to use replay to determine whether the kick was good; in the future they will be able to use it on such field goals.

The league also has changed two rules regarding fumbles: A legal forward handoff that is dropped is now a fumble, as is a direct snap from center that hits the ground before it is touched by the quarterback. In the past, the forward handoff would have been an incomplete pass and the botched snap would have been a false start.

[Man-Goblin]

Wait, if a team won the toss they had to receive? Has Madden had it wrong all these years?

[HEAV]

The biggest change is that the force out rule no longer exists. In the past, if a receiver jumped to catch a ball and was pushed out of bounds while he was in the air, officials had to make a judgment call to determine whether he would have come down in bounds. That rule, which many observers felt was enforced inconsistently, has been eliminated, and now it’s simple: If the receiver didn’t touch two feet or one of any other body part in bounds, it’s an incomplete pass.

I hate this rule. It's going to cost TD's. A defender can now push a receiver outta the endzone.

It's going to be bad.

[bronco militia]

Originally Posted by rugbythug

The league also has changed two rules regarding fumbles: A legal forward handoff that is dropped is now a fumble, as is a direct snap from center that hits the ground before it is touched by the quarterback. In the past, the forward handoff would have been an incomplete pass and the botched snap would have been a false start.

help me out here...I can't remember a time when a botched snap that hit the ground was ever ruled a false start. what about in the shotgun?

also, a dropped shovel pass is now considered a fumble. now thats stupid.

[Beantown Bronco]

Originally Posted by rugbythug

A legal forward handoff that is dropped is now a fumble, as is a direct snap from center that hits the ground before it is touched by the quarterback. In the past, the forward handoff would have been an incomplete pass and the botched snap would have been a false start.

What is "a legal forward handoff"? Are they talking about a shovel pass to the RB that is still behind the line of scrimmage?

[Beantown Bronco]

Originally Posted by HEAV

I hate this rule. It's going to cost TD's. A defender can now push a receiver outta the endzone.

It's going to be bad.

One more reason to say no to Desean Jackson. Every time that little 150 pound receiver leaves his feet, even in the middle of the field, guys will line up to carry him out of bounds before he can hit the ground again. Genius.

[Man-Goblin]

Originally Posted by Beantown Bronco

What is "a legal forward handoff"? Are they talking about a shovel pass to the RB that is still behind the line of scrimmage?

A shovel pass has always been called a legal forward pass, I believe. So it would still be incomplete.

[Atwater His Ass]

The forceout rule change is stupid. It's not hard to rule a forceout and these, especailly on 3rd downs and in the endzones, can be game-changing plays.

I like getting rid of the 5 yard facemask.

And I always thought you had to option to kick if you won the coin toss.

Shovel pass = fumble = retarded.

[bronco militia]

Originally Posted by Beantown Bronco

One more reason to say no to Desean Jackson. Every time that little 150 pound receiver leaves his feet, even in the middle of the field, guys will line up to carry him out of bounds before he can hit the ground again. Genius.

to be fair, the force out rule hasn't been around that long. I doubt it will be that big of on issue.

IMO, Refs were calling it way to often.

[rugbythug]

Do you guys even watch football?

Force out removal eliminates the ref's bias.

A shovel pass is still a pass.
A forward hand off would now be a fumble. ALthough I can not remember the last time I saw a forward handoff.

[400HZ]

I thought 5 yard facemask penalties were a good idea. I know it's ref bias, but I can't recall ever being upset by seeing a 5 yarder vs a 15 yarder.

[2KBack]

Might as well just catch the reciever and throw him out of bounds

[Punisher]

The biggest change is that the force out rule no longer exists. In the past, if a receiver jumped to catch a ball and was pushed out of bounds while he was in the air, officials had to make a judgment call to determine whether he would have come down in bounds. That rule, which many observers felt was enforced inconsistently, has been eliminated, and now it’s simple: If the receiver didn’t touch two feet or one of any other body part in bounds, it’s an incomplete pass.

WHAT!!!! WoW this is going to **** up the game

[jmz313]

Forward Handoff? Not sure I've ever seen one. Or am I missing something. Never have heard of categorized handoffs.

[crowebomber]

I like the rule changes. Force out rule takes the refs opinion out of the equation, and I think that's good. Lynch is licking his chops to line someone up on the sideline and knock him out of bounds for the incompletion.

5 yard penalty rule - No harm, no foul as far as I'm concerned. I bet we'll see more 15 yarders where last year it was borderline and just called for 5.

Shovel pass has always been a forward pass (eventhough Elway was called for a fumble when he threw an incomplete shovel to Sewell once), so we'll probably never even notice this forward handoff rule.

Coin toss = good.

[missingnumber7]

Originally Posted by rugbythug

The biggest change is that the force out rule no longer exists. In the past, if a receiver jumped to catch a ball and was pushed out of bounds while he was in the air, officials had to make a judgment call to determine whether he would have come down in bounds. That rule, which many observers felt was enforced inconsistently, has been eliminated, and now it’s simple: If the receiver didn’t touch two feet or one of any other body part in bounds, it’s an incomplete pass.

Five-yard facemask penalties have also been eliminated. Serious face masks involving grabbing or twisting the player’s helmet will remain 15-yard penalties, and minor face masks involving a player accidentally grabbing the mask and immediately letting go will not be flagged at all.

Another rules change involves the opening coin toss, where the NFL will now adopt the college rule that allows the coach to defer his choice of kicking or receiving until the second half.

The league also made field goals on which the ball bounces off the goal post reviewable by instant replay. Last year Browns kicker Phil Dawson made a field goal that passed over the crossbar, bounced off the support post and went back into the field of play. The officials initially ruled the kick no good before correctly ruling it good. Last year they were not permitted to use replay to determine whether the kick was good; in the future they will be able to use it on such field goals.

The league also has changed two rules regarding fumbles: A legal forward handoff that is dropped is now a fumble, as is a direct snap from center that hits the ground before it is touched by the quarterback. In the past, the forward handoff would have been an incomplete pass and the botched snap would have been a false start.

1...the force out rule...has been applied to liberally in many occations, foremost is TD situations. I think here it puts the defense back on a level playing field.

2...Facemask rule..this is bad...now you are going to have officials holding flags because it is automatically a 15 yd penalty. the problem with this comes with the 5 yd penalty not being enforced properly. this will only lead to more judgement calls. officiating is such a gray sport...the nfl had an opportunity to give them a dark gray/light gray option and they took that away thinking it will be black or white. Mark my words, you will see fewer facemask calls this year because of the fear of throwing a flag for a minor facemask(previous years) and charging them 15 yards.

3...finally going back to the original rules. defering is part of every other level of football, why not the nfl...they previously had 3 choices...kick recieve or choose a goal...good call.

4...fg's reviewable...duh.

5...These are just words clarify a rule that is already enforced. Basically once the center grabs the football if he moves it it is a fumble, there is no longer an illegal snap.

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by rugbythug

Do you guys even watch football?

Force out removal eliminates the ref's bias.

A shovel pass is still a pass.
A forward hand off would now be a fumble. ALthough I can not remember the last time I saw a forward handoff.

Draw plays out of the shotgun.

And thank you for bringing sense to this. The league has screwed defenses every year. This year they finally are throwing them a bone. They get the headsets to deal with noise and keeping pace with the offense.

The force out rule and the face mask rule put too much of the penalty outcome on the opinion of the official. It was too subjective. They are making things as clean cut as possible and this is a good move. It's not like The Broncos don't get force outs but everyone else does. They should also make it one foot in bounds now just to make things consistent with every other level of the game, though.

[Paladin]

If that's what was called the underneath handoff where the RB cuts in front of the QB behind the line of scrimage, it ought to be a fumble anyway. Maybe I am wrong, but that rule change is a puzzlement to me.....

[texpat]

The no-force out will cause offenses to stay away from the sides and back of the end-zones.

[dbfan4life]

If they're going to eliminate the force out rule then they need to change 2 feet down to 1 foot down.

[dbfan4life]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

They should also make it one foot in bounds now just to make things consistent with every other level of the game, though.

Posted before I saw this and I agree.

[gobroncos313]

Here would be a good rule change. Inside 2 minutes of the game require a team to make positive yards on a play. If the ball is not advanced the then the clock stops. IN close games that would eliminate the kneel down and make the end of a game a little more exciting when the leading team has the ball.

[DHallblows]

Originally Posted by gobroncos313

Here would be a good rule change. Inside 2 minutes of the game require a team to make positive yards on a play. If the ball is not advanced the then the clock stops. IN close games that would eliminate the kneel down and make the end of a game a little more exciting when the leading team has the ball.

This isn't the AFL

[Punisher]

Originally Posted by gobroncos313

Here would be a good rule change. Inside 2 minutes of the game require a team to make positive yards on a play. If the ball is not advanced the then the clock stops. IN close games that would eliminate the kneel down and make the end of a game a little more exciting when the leading team has the ball.

LMAO you want the rules to be like Arena Football

[bronco militia]

arena ball: where TD's are as exciting as a layup