The NFL is going to look a little different next season. A bevy of rule changes have been approved this offseason, the latest among them coming Tuesday with a series of changes to kickoffs. Other elements of the game, from the catch rule to PATs, have been changed as well. More rule changes may be yet to come, but already the game play has been significantly altered. The Post examines the league’s rule changes:
The catch rule
Going into the offseason, many fans felt this simply had to be fixed. The owners agreed, as all 32 approved an attempt to simplify what was an overly complicated and convoluted rule. Now, to complete a catch, a receiver must do the following: Control the ball, get two feet in bounds and make a football move.
“Surviving the ground” is no longer a requirement — which means, retroactively, Dez caught it.
Of course, this change still will leave some plays open to interpretation. “Football move” is a vague term, and former officiating czar Dean Blandino is among those who think it will cause controversy. Certainly though, some progress has been made.
Prohibition on lowering the head to initiate contact
As of now, this is the rule we know the least about. When initially rolled out in March, the rule change instituted a 15-yard penalty if a player lowers his head and initiates contact with his helmet, which also could lead to ejection. This sounds similar to college football’s targeting rule, but the criteria for ejection is unclear. Moreover, if this is enforced to the fullest possible extent, it would result in nearly every single player in the league needing to change the way he tackles.
Whether that happens though remains to be seen.
Kickoffs
The league announced a series of changes in kickoffs Tuesday, all with the stated intention of making the play safer. A quick rundown, from the league ops’ Twitter account:
All of these changes are centered on the same idea: Minimize the number of players colliding with one another at full speed. The kickoff has been regularly described as the most dangerous play in football, and there has been speculation as to whether it will eventually be eliminated completely. This, simply, is an attempt to make it less dangerous.
Ejections
The NFL’s command center — aka senior VP of officiating Al Riveron — now can eject players who have been penalized for a non-football act. This one is pretty simple and straightforward: If the referee misses something egregious — for example, a late or illegal hit — Riveron can buzz in on his microphone to ask for an ejection.
PATs
Another simplification: A team that scores at the end of regulation won’t be forced to kick a meaningless extra point. The only people this will affect are gamblers, for whom an otherwise meaningless point at the end of a game can be what swings a backdoor cover. For everyone else, this just eliminates an extra three minutes at the end of a handful of games every year.