NFL Rules Changes for 2021

[Valkyr]

• 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.

 

[erod]

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

This is a great rule if and when this ever happens for the first time in the history of the NFL.

LOL

 

[Diehardblues]

So now a wide receiver can wear number 27? A linebacker can wear 26? A tight end can wear 5?

I'm fine with some of the number changes, but this is way too broad. I always like the uniformity of the NFL in that regard. It needed to be tweaked, not scrapped.

I don’t think we’ll see any veterans changing their numbers as they will have to buy out NFL remaining supply for retail purchasing. Unless your a player where the league or franchise doesn’t have any supply of your jersey already in stock .

This will apply more to Rookies coming in.

 

[jrumann59]

I don’t get these

• 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 ofall accepted penalties during successive try attempts,defined as an opportunity for a team to score one or twoadditional points during one scrimmage down.

Call it Tom Brady Rule. He did that last season

 

[Diehardblues]

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

This is a great rule if and when this ever happens for the first time in the history of the NFL.

LOL

The only time I recall this occurring is on these last play desperations with no time on the clock with several laterals trying to keep the play alive .

 

[jrumann59]

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

This is a great rule if and when this ever happens for the first time in the history of the NFL.

LOL

Happened last year.

 

[gjkoeppen]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...ove-replay-change-other-new-rules-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 now 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 proposed that teams be given 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 would be directed not at celebrations but toward acrimonious interaction among players.
  
  
• Tabled a proposal from the Buffalo Bills that would have pushed back interviews for general manager and head-coaching positions until after the championship round of the playoffs and would have prevented hires until after the Super Bowl. It will be further studied.
  
  
• 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.

As far as I'm concerned every time there is a rule change all it does is water down the game and it is getting so far from what the game was. At the rate they are going they will be really playing tag football down the road to be replaced by just a video form of football.
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[TexasBacon]

As far as I'm concerned every time there is a rule change all it does is water down the game and it is getting so far from what the game was. At the rate they are going they will be really playing tag football down the road to be replaced by just a video form of football.
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Not really. There have been several rule changes that have benefited the game over the past few years. Some of them are a bit excessive and overall the league has been watered down contact-wise compared to prior decades but rule changes aren't just inherently bad.

 

[TexasBacon]

I'm just bummed they didn't say anything about the one helmet rule. Rumor was that it was finally going away this year and we could see our glorious throwbacks and maybe wear a white helmet with the color rush uniform. Dang.

 

[MarcusRock]

The only time I recall this occurring is on these last play desperations with no time on the clock with several laterals trying to keep the play alive .

A lateral is not actually a pass. It's an air handoff so to speak, similar to "pitching it" back to a running back. That play counts as a rush, not a pass. A pitch down the line of scrimmage or forward is a pass. The rule in this description should read, "forward pass" as it does in the rulebook. Also, it's not "passes completed," it's simply passes thrown. Below are the current rules where there's only a 5-yard penalty and not a loss of down.

RULE 8
ARTICLE 2. LEGAL FORWARD PASS. The offensive team may make one forward pass from behind the line during each down.
If the ball, whether in player possession or loose, crosses the line of scrimmage, a forward pass is not permissible, regardless of
whether the ball returns behind the line of scrimmage before the pass is thrown.

Item 1. Illegal Passes. Any other forward pass by either team is illegal and is a foul by the passing team, including:
(a) A forward pass thrown when the passer is beyond the line of scrimmage.

Note: It is a forward pass from beyond the line of scrimmage if the passer’s entire body and the ball are beyond the line of
scrimmage when the ball is released, whether the passer is airborne or touching the ground. The penalty for a forward pass
thrown from beyond the line is enforced from the spot where the ball is released.​

(b) A second forward pass thrown from behind the line of scrimmage.
(c) A forward pass thrown after the ball has crossed the line of scrimmage and has returned behind it.
(d) A forward pass thrown after there has been a change of possession.

Item 2. Intercepted Illegal Pass. If an illegal pass is caught or intercepted, the ball may be advanced and the penalty declined.

Penalties:
(a) For a forward pass from beyond the line: Loss of down and five yards from the spot of the pass. See S.N. below.
(b) For a second forward pass from behind the line, or for a forward pass that was thrown after the ball returned behind
the line: Loss of five yards from the previous spot.
(c) For a forward pass that is thrown after a change of possession: Loss of five yards from the spot of the pass.​

 

[ghst187]

You forgot, Packers WRs blocking downfield while the ball is in the air or in the hand of the QB will not be considered a penalty.

And similarly.... continued allowing of patriot WR pick plays

 

[Doomsday]

I'm assuming the first one was treated like an ordinary penalty with no loss of down. But what the hell kind of play are they referring to?

I have no idea what the other rule is even talking about.

I believe it is in reference to penalties being applied to the spot of the extra point or 2 point try. Last year, I forgot which game, a team got a false start penalty, then decided to go for 2 and the ball was put at the 2 yard line instead of the 7 as if the false start never happened. It was pretty bizarre.

 

[JD_KaPow]

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

This is a great rule if and when this ever happens for the first time in the history of the NFL.

LOL

The whole reason the rule was changed is that it happened last season.

Will it happen again? Unlikely. But we see QBs catch their own passes once or twice a season; this is just to make sure the penalty is appropriate if they get the bright idea of throwing it again.

The other play type where I see it coming up is the trick-play lateral to a WR (or whoever) who then throws a pass. If they mess up and that lateral goes forward, that would be a case of two passes on one play.

 

[erod]

The whole reason the rule was changed is that it happened last season.

Will it happen again? Unlikely. But we see QBs catch their own passes once or twice a season; this is just to make sure the penalty is appropriate if they get the bright idea of throwing it again.

The other play type where I see it coming up is the trick-play lateral to a WR (or whoever) who then throws a pass. If they mess up and that lateral goes forward, that would be a case of two passes on one play.

Second exactly doesn't apply. Passes in that situation may not be behind the line of scrimmage.

 

[conner01]

Call it Tom Brady Rule. He did that last season

After reading your comment I found better explanations of the rule changes
On a single play would have been easy to understand lol
About time the league made a rule named after a non cowboy lol

 

[conner01]

Exactly.

And I am intrigued to see what happens. I think this is probably the right approach to resolve the problem.

Zooming out to the larger discussion, I'm not against something as drastic as the 4th down idea. I think there's a place for rules innovation in the major sports, but only to the degree that the perceived problem cannot be remedied within the framework of the most fundamental tenets of the game. In baseball, for instance, a very fundamental tenet is that the offense must earn baserunners... so, to me, if we accept the idea of trying to reduce extra inning games (and that's it's own discussion), then it's important to look first at other options for enhancing scoring that do not offend that fundamental tenet. Similarly, I think the concern about onside kicks is best addressed by some remedy that doesn't offend the kickoff element, and only if it turns out that nothing is satisfactory do we look at something that has the effect of marginalizing the kickoff element.

I think the on side kick rule helps make games more competitive
My only problem with the 15 yard play is it’s more luck than skill
The odds of completing a known 15 yard play are pretty slim
Most plays that long are in situations they aren’t playing to defend a 15 yard play but the whole field
But overall after getting better explanations of the new rules there is nothing there I hate

 

[Reverend Conehead]

I think they should try again making PI or non-PI calls challengeable. They screwed it up last time by making it too complicated. Just make it so if the ref sees on the replay that the defender touches the receiver before the ball, it's PI. If the defender touches at the same time or after the ball, it's not PI. Make it that simple and it will work.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Second exactly doesn't apply. Passes in that situation may not be behind the line of scrimmage.

Huh? Not following. The rule is about two passes thrown, both from behind the LOS.

It applies if the QB (accidentally) forward-laterals to the WR, who then throws a pass from behind the LOS. This is a play that happens every week in the NFL, although obviously they usually don't mess up the lateral.

 

[gjkoeppen]

Not really. There have been several rule changes that have benefited the game over the past few years. Some of them are a bit excessive and overall the league has been watered down contact-wise compared to prior decades but rule changes aren't just inherently bad.

That's a crock. There are very few fans that like how the rules have changed the game from a game of hits to gee you can't hit me anymore. There was a time when the league ran the game and not the NFLPA. There was a time when players got toughen up in training camp having 2 a days for the first couple of weeks and didn't get a day off until the day after the first preseason game was played. Now 3 days into training camp they get a day off. There was a time when a defender could play bump and run all the way unt6il the ball was in the air and not just for the 1st 5 yards. There was a time when a ball carrier was knocked to the ground but now if they do that they get flagged for unnecessary roughness. The was a time that a defensive back was considered good if as soon as a receiver touches the ball they hit him forcing him to drop the ball now they have to give him a chance to catch the ball before hitting him. You may like the game now but there are many fans that wish it was like it was when they actually played full contact tackle football.
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[gjkoeppen]

Huh? Not following. The rule is about two passes thrown, both from behind the LOS.

It applies if the QB (accidentally) forward-laterals to the WR, who then throws a pass from behind the LOS. This is a play that happens every week in the NFL, although obviously they usually don't mess up the lateral.

Defenses said it was to hard to cover everyone so they had to eliminate that play. Rule changes only ruin the game more and more every time they change them.
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