NFL owners approve new 2021 rules for replay, onside kicks

[tk13]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...es-2021-season

Owners rejected more robust proposals for a full-time sky judge, including one from the Baltimore Ravens that would have created a booth umpire. Instead, owners took the more modest step of giving the existing replay officials -- who sit in the press box of each stadium -- the authority to consult with referees on certain "specific, objective aspects of a play when clear and obvious video evidence is present," according to the language of the rule.

Replay officials will not be able to throw flags or reverse calls on their own. But they can now offer referees advice based on what they've seen on broadcast replays in the areas of possession, completed or intercepted passes, the location of the ball relative to the boundary or end line, and whether a player is down by contact. Previously, replay officials have been limited to participating in plays that were under review. Coaches will not have to throw challenge flags to prompt that advice, which some replay officials have been giving referees informally for years.

In other news regarding Wednesday's votes, NFL owners:

• Approved a relaxation of rules for the numbers that players of certain positions can wear because of expanded practice squads. Running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, defensive backs and linebackers can all wear numbers in the single digits if they choose. Based on preexisting NFL rules, players who want to change their numbers this season will have to buy out the inventory of the NFL's manufacturing partners. This wouldn't apply to players who give notice in 2021 that they want to change numbers in 2022.
  
  
• Approved a one-year experiment in an attempt to make it easier to recover onside kicks. In 2021, the receiving team on kickoffs will be limited to nine players within 25 yards of the ball. Last season, NFL teams recovered only three of 67 onside kicks, the lowest total and recovery rate since at least 2001. As a result, the Philadelphia Eagles tabled a proposal that would have given teams an option to gain 15 yards on one offensive play from their own 25-yard line to retain possession after a score.
  
  
• Tabled a rule that would have expanded the area where players are prohibited from blocking below the waist. McKay said that there is enough support to pass the rule now, but that several teams had questions that will take some time to address. It could be revisited next month.
  
  
• Eliminated overtime in preseason games.
  
  
• Changed a rule that will now force a loss of down if two passes are completed behind the line of scrimmage.
  
  
• Approved a rule change that ensures the enforcement of all accepted penalties during successive try attempts, defined as an opportunity for a team to score one or two additional points during one scrimmage down.
  
  
• Did not act on a "spot or choose" proposal from the Ravens for the winner of the overtime coin toss. In that scenario, the team would have the option to choose either which team will have the first possession of overtime or where the ball would be spotted.
  
  
• Decided to include taunting among its points of emphasis for 2021. McKay clarified that the emphasis wouldn't be directed at celebrations but toward acrimonious interaction among players.
  
  
• Completed a study of the sharp drop in offensive holding during the 2020 season. McKay said that Walt Anderson, the NFL's senior vice president of training and development, would clarify the standard and put together a video for teams to consume before the 2021 season.

[ChiefBlueCFC]

They should implement the rule change where they enforce the rules equally for all teams

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by ChiefBlueCFC

They should implement the rule change where they enforce the rules equally for all teams

Yeah. I think refs should be held accountable and answer questions after games for bogus calls or bullshit calls.

[mililo4cpa]

One rule change I'd like to see, and don't know if ever been brought up (I'd have to think so at some point in the history of football): The automatic first down given on defensive penalties.

If it were me, instead of the automatic first down, I'd give the penalty yardage and a repeat of the previous down. If the yardage results in a first down being obtained, then fine, but if it doesn't, you repeat the down.

Nothing infuriates me more than when there is 5 yard defensive holding call on a corner away from the ball 3rd and 15 that gives a new set of down. Under my scenario, they assess the 5 yards and repeat 3rd down (which is now 3rd and 10).....a yeah, I don't even like it when it benefits the Chiefs....I think it's simply a bad football rule.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'd like to hear the compelling argument for why the automatic first down is even a thing.

EDIT: This goes for Pass Interference as well. I'm OK with the spot of the foul placement, but if that spot doesn't result in a first down, then you repeat the down again. So, if it's 3rd and 15 at the offenses own 30 yard line, and the PI occurs at the 40 yard line, after the penalty, it would be 3rd and 5 at the 40