NFL Teams propose potential rule changes

 How and why some teams want to see changes to the league.

Joey Priano

 

In the last few days, it has been announced that four NFL teams have ideas for new rules that they believe should be implemented into the league. This post is to explain what exactly those rule changes would be, why specifically each team would want them, and if they would be beneficial for the league as a whole. 

The first rule that a team wants implemented is the Green Bay Packers are trying to ban the “Tush Push”. The Tush Push, invented by the Philadelphia Eagles, has become one of the league’s most recognizable plays. When broken down, it is a Quarterback sneak play that works at a much higher efficiency rate, while at the same time, giving teams that use it successfully a 76.5% completion percentage on plays with 1 yard to go, with the eagles succeeding 82.4% of the time. If the league decided to ban this play, t he general fan consensus would see this as a mistake. Every team in the league has the capability to use the play, giving no team any advantage in a game. While a team like the Eagles calls this play more than any other team, it should not be enough for the NFL to ban this play as a whole. 

The second rule that a team is trying to implement was voiced by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers want the league to allow teams to start making deals and talking to players earlier in the year. As of now, teams are able to talk to agents on a certain date, but the Steelers want the ability to communicate directly with players earlier. While this rule change would not result in any major game-breaking moves, this could benefit teams like the Steelers, who are currently trying to figure out their Quarterback situation. Although this rule would not impact anything right now or this season, some fans speculate that if this rule would have been in place earlier, the Steelers could have had more legitimate talks with possibly Sam Darnold, and Aaron Rodgers, or even had a better chance to bring back Justin Fields. This trade suggestion to me sounds more of a team specific wish, as opposed to something that the whole league needs.

The third rule was proposed by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles want to change the NFL overtime rules in the regular season, by making them the same rules that they use in the playoffs. In January of 2022, the Bills and Chiefs played in a very highly anticipated playoff game, where the winner would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. The Bills led by 3 with 13 seconds to go, when the Chiefs got the ball into field goal range. Harrison Butker kicked a 49-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. After a back and forth game, the Chiefs won the coin toss, leading to them getting the ball first. After an impressive game from Bills Quarterback Josh Allen, he did not even have a chance to get the ball back, leading to the Bills losing the game. After this game, the NFL changed the overtime rules for the playoffs, allowing each team to have a possession in overtime, to avoid a game ending in that way again. The Eagles, a team that did not play in a single overtime game this year, proposed that this rule should be enforced in every game, not just in the playoffs. With the NFL having just 17 games a year, every game is extremely important. This move would benefit the NFL with more exciting overtime games and take an element of luck out of the game.

The last rule was proposed by the Detroit Lions. The Lions proposed that the playoff seeding should be reworked. As it stands right now, the team with the best record in each conference gets a bye in the first round. After that, the next best record out of the remaining division winners is the No. 2 seed, who plays the No. 7 seed. After that it is the No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5, with the 3 and 4 being the remaining division winners, ordered by record. Usually there is no problem with this setup, but every once in a while, the seeding gets very scuffed, like with what happened this season. This year, the Minnesota Vikings were tied with the Eagles for the second best record in the NFC. However, the best team was the Lions, who are also in the NFC North with the Vikings. Because of this, Minnesota missed out on the opportunity to have a home-field advantage, and instead became the No. 5 seed, and had to play on the road. The Vikings ended up losing that first round game against the Los Angeles Rams, ending their impressive season with more to be desired. The Lions have proposed that the seeding be restructured, where your seed is based on overall conference record, and the winner of each division does not always get a home game. Had this change been made last year, a team like the Vikings with a record of 14-3 would be rewarded with a better playoff seed than a team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who got a home playoff game with a record of 10-7. Although this eliminates some of the value of divisions, and the standings may look closer to what the NBA does, where the standings and playoffs only take full conference into consideration.

It would be interesting for the league to look into changes like these, and decide what is worth keeping, what is worth changing, and how to keep all of these potential new rules fair for the entire league, the players, and the fans, while maintaining the same level of enjoyment and entertainment that the NFL offers now.