After going through the start of free agency, evaluating draft prospects and preparing for the NFL Draft coming up next month, there are rule changes that are proposed each offseason that often make headlines. While the Bucs did not bring up any rule changes this year, three have been proposed by teams that could impact Tampa Bay next season.
Bucs Hc Todd Bowles
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
It should also be worth noting that Bucs head coach Todd Bowles was appointed to the league’s competition committee last season. The committee is typically most known for its impact with rule changes as it is usually the group that brings up said adjustments.
This time around, though, it wasn’t the committee that proposed these changes, it was three NFC teams that have requested rule amendments. One adjustment in particular could have helped out last season.
One rule proposal came from the Green Bay Packers that simply put is to make the “tush push”or “brotherly shove” style of quarterback sneak made famous by the Eagles an illegal play. While it has usually worked out in the favor of Philadelphia, the Bucs had success stopping it in 2023 during their Wild Card matchup against the Eagles thanks to Vita Vea’s presence front.
Another proposal came from the Detroit Lions, who the Bucs have played twice in the last three seasons and will play again in 2025. Their amendment they would like to see is to eliminate the automatic first down part of a penalty for defensive holding or illegal contact. Defensive holding is a 10-yard penalty while illegal contact is five yards, but the greater impact is that it automatically gives the offense a first down. This has bailed out teams at times when facing a third-and-15 or third-and-20 situation and an illegal contact call gives them a new set of downs on a drive.
Bucs’ Brutal Loss Could Have Been Reclaimed
The third amendment was proposed by the Eagles, and this one hits home for the Bucs, too. The Eagles would like the regular season overtime rules to have the same overtime rules as the playoffs, which means that each team would be guaranteed one possession with the football regardless of the outcome of the first possession of the other team. It would also be a 15-minute quarter if each team has the same outcome with their drives.
Bucs Qb Baker Mayfield Nfc South
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today
Why would this impact the Bucs? Looking back at last season in Week 9 on Monday Night Football, the Bucs lost a close game in overtime to the Chiefs by a score of 30-24. The highlight of the game came late in regulation as Baker Mayfield and the offense drove 71-yards down the field with 2:14 to go and capped off the drive when Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Ryan Miller with 30 seconds remaining, making the score 24-23.
What Bucs fans will remember most after is that Todd Bowles elected to kick the extra point and tie the game up at 24-24 instead of going for two and potentially take the lead against a Chiefs team that was undefeated at the time. The Bucs then lost the coin toss, which was famously caught Mayfield tilted his head back in frustration, and they never got the ball back as the Chiefs scored on the opening drive to win 30-24.
Had this new rule been in place, the Bucs’ offense would have had at least another opportunity to get the ball. In all likelihood, they would’ve gotten the ball first considering the Chiefs won the toss and would like to have possession last, but it would at least applied more pressure to the opponent. Many criticized Bowles for not going for two. He may have more time to mull over this potential rule amendment.
The Bucs also lost in a similar fashion in Atlanta in Week 5, 36-30, when the Falcons won the coin toss and scored a touchdown on the opening possession of overtime.
Another Change Would Have Also Impacted Bucs
Plays in the game weren’t the only amendments that have been submitted by teams. The Lions also submitted a bylaw proposal that would impact the playoff seeding. Essentially this would make for the playoff format to be that Wild Card seeds could be seeded higher than division winners if they have a better record.
An example from last season would be that if the seedings were different, the first round Wild Card matchups would have been the 10-7 Rams at the 14-3 Eagles (these teams met in the second round), the 10-6 Bucs at the 14-3 Vikings and the 11-6 Packers at the 12-5 Commanders.
From our folks at NFL Research, this is how the seeding would’ve looked for this past postseason under the #Lions’ new proposal to seed by record. So AFC Wild Card weekend would’ve been similar (LAC home vs HOU though) but NFC would’ve been:
LAR at PHI
TB at MIN
GB at WAS pic.twitter.com/0nAvVivtLb
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 19, 2025
Bucs Hc Todd Bowles
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
There’s no doubt that the Bucs have been the beneficiary of playing in a weaker NFC South division and taking advantage of punching their playoff ticket with it. The 2023 team that hosted the Eagles in the first round would have ended up with a road game instead, given the records of other team in the conference. In 2022, the Bucs had an 8-9 record and only made the postseason based on their division title.
The good news is that the Bucs are an ascending team that also defeated good opponents last year and should do so again this season. Any of these rule amendment proposals also need to be approved by at least 75% of the owners of the league at the NFL Annual Meeting in late March, so there’s no guarantee that any of these are fulfilled.
What it does accomplish is to at least open a window to look at the game in a different way and decide if it’s for the betterment of it.