Suggested rule changes for the NFL

[RedinTexas]

Originally Posted by Balto

6. Intentional grounding. Rarely called because if the QB takes 2 or 3 steps to the left or right grounding the ball is legal. Just get rid of the penalty for intentional grounding but any pass that doesn't get to the line of scrimmage is a live ball. Would be very exciting and would stop all these check down Charlie QB's from boring us to death with their dink and dunk

If every ball was live that didn’t make it to the line that would take spiking the ball to stop the clock out of the game. I actually enjoy that suspense

I really like this idea. I have always hated rules that ask the referees to make a judgement as to whether something happened. For reference, think of the QB "in the grasp" rule, or the rule on whether a receiver "would have landed in bounds if not for the defender." Asking the referees to make judgements like these distract them from officiating penalties like they are supposed to do. Furthermore, if there actually are crooked referees, rules that give them the judgement to determine plays like whether the QB was in the grasp are perfect opportunities to influence the outcome of a game.

Any rule change that takes away judgement calls from the referees and leaves them only with the power to call whether the ball passed the line of scrimmage or not sounds like a great idea to me. This is exactly the kind of rule change that improve the game and reduce the amount of bitching at the refs that occurs in every contest.

ETA - Two really good things are accomplished with that rule change.
1 - The referee is no longer making a determination as to whether there was a receiver in the area. This is highly subjective and can vary wildly depending on who is making the call. The change makes it so the referee is only ruling on whether the ball hit the ground before the line of scrimmage or not and that could be reviewed pretty easily.

2 - We no longer have to sit through determinations of whether the QBs arm was going forward or not. If the ball comes out it's a live ball just as long as it doesn't make it to the line of scrimmage. No more interminable reviews on the QBs arm.

[Balto]

Originally Posted by RedinTexas

I really like this idea. I have always hated rules that ask the referees to make a judgement as to whether something happened. For reference, think of the QB "in the grasp" rule, or the rule on whether a receiver "would have landed in bounds if not for the defender." Asking the referees to make judgements like these distract them from officiating penalties like they are supposed to do. Furthermore, if there actually are crooked referees, rules that give them the judgement to determine plays like whether the QB was in the grasp are perfect opportunities to influence the outcome of a game.

Any rule change that takes away judgement calls from the referees and leaves them only with the power to call whether the ball passed the line of scrimmage or not sounds like a great idea to me. This is exactly the kind of rule change that improve the game and reduce the amount of bitching at the refs that occurs in every contest.

ETA - Two really good things are accomplished with that rule change.
1 - The referee is no longer making a determination as to whether there was a receiver in the area. This is highly subjective and can vary wildly depending on who is making the call. The change makes it so the referee is only ruling on whether the ball hit the ground before the line of scrimmage or not and that could be reviewed pretty easily.

2 - We no longer have to sit through determinations of whether the QBs arm was going forward or not. If the ball comes out it's a live ball just as long as it doesn't make it to the line of scrimmage. No more interminable reviews on the QBs arm.

Ok but what about spiking the ball to stop the clock?

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Balto

Ok but what about spiking the ball to stop the clock?

Fumble!

[RedinTexas]

Originally Posted by Balto

Ok but what about spiking the ball to stop the clock?

They should be open to allowing this as a special exception or they could go back to what they used to do before that rule was implemented. The QB used to throw the ball way out of bounds and only a few seconds would run off the clock. I never thought they needed a new rule for spiking the ball, but if people like that aspect of the game, I don't think anyone would have a big problem with allowing that exception.

[Balto]

Originally Posted by RedinTexas

They should be open to allowing this as a special exception or they could go back to what they used to do before that rule was implemented. The QB used to throw the ball way out of bounds and only a few seconds would run off the clock. I never thought they needed a new rule for spiking the ball, but if people like that aspect of the game, I don't think anyone would have a big problem with allowing that exception.

Could be hard to implement the rule and still keep spiking. Refs would have like an imaginary box that the QB could spike it and it not be a fumble. Then again you could have issues of was he spiking it? Did he fumble a snap and then pick it up and spike it before getting sacked? Just saying you’d be putting judgement calls back into the refs.

Maybe something as simple as you can spike the ball only taking the snap from the center and can not take a step before it’s spiked. Could easily look at a review camera IF it ever was questioned.

[RedinTexas]

Originally Posted by Balto

Could be hard to implement the rule and still keep spiking. Refs would have like an imaginary box that the QB could spike it and it not be a fumble. Then again you could have issues of was he spiking it? Did he fumble a snap and then pick it up and spike it before getting sacked? Just saying you’d be putting judgement calls back into the refs.

Maybe something as simple as you can spike the ball only taking the snap from the center and can not take a step before it’s spiked. Could easily look at a review camera IF it ever was questioned.

There are always some growing pains in implementing new rules, but if there are implementation problems that can't be overcome like some of the things you suggested they could always go back to the old way of chucking it out of bounds. It only uses up a few more seconds than spiking the ball.