A new NFL season is finally upon us, and with it comes a few new edits to the official rulebook.
Each year there are several tweaks made to the rules, but here are the four most notable changes that will have the biggest impact every Sunday:
Use of helmet
Straight from the rulebook: “It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent. This rule pertains to all players on the field, and to all areas of the field.”
The penalty for leading with your helmet is 15 yards. A player can be ejected from the game in cases determined to be clearly avoidable (All ejections will be reviewed).
A5) A key thing to note is that an ejection is based solely on one act. With a personal foul, it is not a compounding situation — it is for one individual act. Here’s an example from preseason Week 1. #TV23Chat pic.twitter.com/RAFe5vntsB
— Al Riveron (@alriveron) September 5, 2018
Officials will be looking out for cases of players — on offence or defence — lowering their head and altering their body position to lead a hit with their helmet. This isn’t just head-to-head contact we’re talking about. A player can be called for making contact with any part of an opponent’s body — it’s the “leading with the helmet” part that’s the focus of this new tackling rule, as the league tries to make the game safer for all involved.
Of course, lowering the head is also a natural reaction of someone bracing for contact. The rule attempts to cover that, though there has been plenty of confusion throughout pre-season as officials put it to the test. Flags were thrown early and often — very often — which brought on widespread criticism as well.
We saw fewer flags thrown during the second half of pre-season compared to the first — something that can be attributed to several factors, including inexperienced players on the field, lower stakes in the game (with less backlash for a wrong call), and officials fine-tuning what counts and what doesn’t.
The first three tackles shown here in this video, tweeted out by Senior Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron, are examples of legal tackles. The final three hits are penalties, according to the revised helmet rule.
Catch rule
The rule book now states that in order for a play to be ruled a catch, the player must “Have control of the ball; Get two feet or another body part down; Make a football move, such as a third step, reaching or extending for the line-to-gain, or having the ability to perform such an act.”
Surviving the ground? Not anymore. The revised catch rule, as a whole, is a simpler take on what the average viewer would call a catch.
But what about Dez? Forever the measuring stick of controversial (non) catches in recent memory, Dez Bryant’s late-game grab against the Packers in 2014, which was infamously ruled incomplete, would be considered a good catch according to this updated rule.
The same goes for Steelers tight end Jesse James — his catch late in Pittsburgh’s week 15 matchup versus the Patriots was ruled incomplete at the time but would be considered complete today.
Changes to kickoffs
The league has long wanted to make kickoffs safer for players, and that means reducing the potential for massive midfield collisions.
There are several parts to this rule change — read them all here — but the most noticeable changes are how and where teams line up. The main goal here is to eliminate the running starts players have been able to get in the past, which only ups the risk downfield.
The kickoff team must have five players per side upon kickoff (no overloading on either side of the ball) and line up within one yard of the restraining/kickoff line (so as not to get a running start to get downfield).
The receiving team must have at least eight players in the 15-yard “setup zone” opposite the kickoff line. This reduces dangerous collisions and means most members of the receiving team must run back to block as opposed to charging forward, making it more similar to a throwing play.
See it in action here:
PATs on the final play
Remember the Minnesota Miracle back in January? Of course you do. Now, do you remember the point after?
Exactly.
What followed Stefon Diggs’ miraculous catch and touchdown run to win the game was eight minutes of pure mayhem — eight minutes of officials trying to round everyone up and clear the field so quarterback Case Keenum could take the final snap, take a knee, officially complete the game. Now, none of that will be necessary as the league has eliminated the need to attempt a point-after, run a two-point conversion, or simply take a knee on the final snap that won’t affect the outcome of the game anyway (unless you’re gambling, in which case… sorry ’bout your luck).
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