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.

[eDave]

Easier onside kicks. That's big.

[tmax63]

Replay ref in the ear of the field referee could be big. Wonder how many late flags right at the end of a play get thrown after the booth guy says "hey you missed"...

[RealSNR]

So does that mean any time a ball is kicked the receiving team can't have more than 9 players within 25 yards?

That's the only way I can envision this working out seamlessly to allow for fake kickoffs and such. If it means a different formation depending on whether or not the kicking team is attempting an onside kick, there dies another part of the game we all love.

At least they're not doing that reeruned "You can attempt to convert a 4th and 15!" thing. That would have been such a clunky rule. I don't care if the Chiefs would have gained from it. It makes zero ****ing sense.

[eDave]

Hill peace sign is out.

[SupDock]

Originally Posted by tmax63

Replay ref in the ear of the field referee could be big. Wonder how many late flags right at the end of a play get thrown after the booth guy says "hey you missed"...

This is the part that seems interesting to me. I am having visions of referees calling down and saying Tom Brady was down by contact on a fumble, and us being out of challenges so we cannot request a review

I also thought it was interesting that they mentioned this was happening unofficially already. I seem to recall a play with the Chiefs where a call was reversed well after a play was over, and it was not officially reviewed

[Fish]

Changed a rule that will now force a loss of down if two passes are completed behind the line of scrimmage.

Well, now we know why Alex Smith retired...

[Why Not?]

Originally Posted by eDave

Hill peace sign is out.

Not necessarily. If he does it in the face of an opponent, yeah. But, if he does it the last few yards of a TD where he has left everyone far in the dust, probably not. At least how I'm reading this rule.

[RickObie]

Changed a rule that will now force a loss of down if two passes are completed behind the line of scrimmage.

What does that actually mean..If a team throws it behind the line on 2nd and 3rd down they lose 4th down?

[RealSNR]

What the **** does this mean?

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.

Isn't that what we had before? Enforce penalties on all point(s) after trys?

[smithandrew051]

“ . 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.”

I like this idea. I think it would make close games much more exciting, but I can already see a team getting screwed on a phantom PI or defensive hold.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by RickObie

Changed a rule that will now force a loss of down if two passes are completed behind the line of scrimmage.

What does that actually mean..If a team throws it behind the line on 2nd and 3rd down they lose 4th down?

QB#1 makes a forward or backward pass behind the LOS to WR#10. WR#10 can only throw the pass past the LOS.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by RickObie

Changed a rule that will now force a loss of down if two passes are completed behind the line of scrimmage.

What does that actually mean..If a team throws it behind the line on 2nd and 3rd down they lose 4th down?

No.

This rule was suggested by the Rams. In last season's Bucs-Rams game, Tom Brady threw a pass that didn't go beyond the line of scrimmage and bounced back to him, so he threw it to another player behind the line of scrimmage.

This rule will make that second pass behind the line of scrimmage illegal and result in a loss of down, regardless of how many yards the second receiver has gained.

[RickObie]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

QB#1 makes a forward or backward pass behind the LOS to WR#10. WR#10 can only throw the pass past the LOS.

Got it...I'm an idiot...

[RickObie]

...and thanks!