Hello, Chicago Bears fans! I have a beef with the NFL Competition Committee. In fact, I think that name is one of the most oxymoronic labels I’ve ever seen. If it was called the Kill the Competition Committee, it would at least be truth in advertising. Every year they make changes to the rules that make NFL officiating more opaque, more subjective, more offense-oriented, and with just enough of a dash of arbitrary capriciousness to confuse both NFL players and NFL fans. With that, here are ten things I hate about NFL rules and officiating (yes, I have more, be patient young padawan).
#10 – Random Holding Calls (both offense and defense)
Defensive holding used to be something you only saw on passing plays and it wasn’t called all that often. Now you are just as likely to see a defensive hold on a run play as you are on a passing play. As for random holds on offense – holding calls on offense are drive killers. Refs need to see a clear and obvious hold at the point of attack, or on a take down of the defender in range of a rush of the quarterback, or they should swallow their whistles.
#9 – The Illegal Formation (lineup) Rule
OK, we can all agree that some teams were abusing this (looking at you Jawaan Taylor). But the league responded by making it a “point of emphasis” which almost always turns an under-called rule into an over-called rule. It is being over-called.
#8 – The Brady Rule, Contact to the Head and Neck of QB, The No Landing on the QB rule, etc. etc.
These and nearly every other rules change designed to protect the quarterback in the last fifteen years has taken the aggressiveness out of defense and essentially placed a red shirt on the quarterback. No one wants to see a quarterback, with their leg extended, hit low by a crashing defensive tackle. But football is a physical sport, and injuries are part of the game. We are approaching flag football territory with how we molly coddle NFL quarterbacks, and the next time I see a called roughing the passer that really was a roughing the passer will be the first in a long time.
#7 – The New Kickoff Rule
Yes, I do like the fact we are seeing more actual runbacks compared to the no-play kickoffs that had become the norm in football. And the data is clear this has reduced injuries on the kickoff return substantially. But it has eliminated one of the truly surprising and game-changing plays in football (the surprise onside kick), and the average field position is creeping much too close to the 40 yard line. Teams should NOT be starting with just over half of the field to go regularly.
#6 – Illegal Contact
Illegal Contact is an utterly superfluous and ticky tack rule that NFL officials struggle to call with any consistency. We already have pass interference and defensive holding. There is no need for the illegal contact rule except to tilt the field all the more heavily in favor of the offense.
#5 – The Lining Up Over the Center Field Goal Rule
Again, I understand this rule was implemented for player safety, particularly since the center of the field goal play is vulnerable. But this rule both drastically reduced the percentage of blocked field goals in the league (yet another exciting NFL play the “competition” committee has all but eliminated from the game) and it has allowed kickers to take lower and lower trajectories – extending the distance from which field goals can reasonably be made. This rule, in combination with the kickoff rule, is making it nearly impossible for a defense to stop a game-winning field goal drive at the end of games.
#4 – Pick Plays against Man Coverage
Most of my problem with NFL rules and officiating these days is the fact they’ve introduced additional complexity into the rules, leading to subjective and inconsistent calls, and more flags in general. But here is a flag they simply don’t drop often enough. Too often, a receiver is CLEARLY blocking a defensive back covering the other receiver in a pick play to create a chunk play. The rule says the wide receiver must be running a credible route. But particularly down on the goal line – pick plays are simply rarely called. Offenses get away with this one way too often.
#3 – The Underthrown Pass Interference Call
Tom Brady made a great comment while discussing the modern NFL on a podcast. He said that the way the rules are today in the NFL reward the quarterback for poor play. He was specifically referencing plays over the middle, the “hospital balls” that get blamed on the defense. Those are bad, but perhaps the most egregious is the underthrown pass that results in a pass interference when the receiver comes back to the ball and runs into the defender – creating the contact. It is so bad you will often see teams dial it up as an actual play – particularly when they are in ugly down and distance situations. There is no reason NFL referees cannot keep the flags in the waistband when a receiver comes back through the defensive back on an underthrown ball.
#2 – Touchbacks on Fumbles into the Endzone and Out of Bounds
This is not a new rule that is ruining the game, rather an old rule that we’ve stuck with despite it making little sense in terms of the actual game play. If the offense fumbles the ball anywhere else on the field, and it goes out of bounds, with no recovery by the defense, the offense gets the ball back where the ball went out. All except on the goal line – where it results in a touchback. I wouldn’t even mind if they would just move the ball back to the twenty – but let the offense retain possession. This is a classic case of the punishment not fitting the crime.
#1 – Ties
Ties are un-American. No more ties.
But what do you think about the current state of the rules and officiating in the NFL? Let us know in the comments!