PFT: Force Out, Face Mask rules changed

[lkelly]

All you Chicken Littles who fear that this force out rule change will ruin the game - you do understand that there's no force out rule in college football, right? Somehow that sport has survived. The only difference there is that you need one foot in bounds instead of two.

I'm still waiting for those clueless college coaches to figure out that they should teach their DBs to allow the catch and instead play "pass the mascot up the bleachers" with the receiver until they can deposit him out of bounds. Sooner or later they'll stop worrying about zone coverage, man coverage, cover 2, or other schemes and just start sending the defensive players to cheerleading camp.

 

[Danny White]

I don't get the new coin toss rule change.

Before, if you win the coin toss, you choose to kick in the first half and in the second half you receive the kickoff. Or, if you choose to receive to start the game then you kick off to start the second half. Seemed fair to me. If you won the coin toss and elected to kickoff to start the game, you get the ball to start the second half. Or if you elect to get the ball to start the game, you kickoff to start the second half. 99.999% of the teams winning the toss take the ball to start.

Now, you "defer." To whom? Defer what? I don't get it.

No, you have it wrong. Previously, in the NFL, if you choose to kick in the first half you DO NOT get to receive in the second half automatically. You made your choice in the first half and you chose to kick. Now your opponent gets to choose in the second half, and most likely will choose to receive... which enables them to receive both the first half and the second half kicks.

The NEW rule allows you the scenario you described above... not the old rule. Now you can defer your choice to the second half.

 

[Wolf2k5]

I think of it this way. I love to watch defenses play. and every off season they come out with new rules to make it easier to make games all turn out with Arena football scores. With the no force out and the mic in helmet for the defense it at least gives the D something to there advantage. Even tho it is written poorly

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Great changes all the way around in my opinion... Especially that dumb face mask rule.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

The force out is going to be hard to deal with......especially if it is a play against us!

 

[tecolote]

I actually love the push out of bounds rule change, let them play, but if they are going to do do that, maybe they should consider calling it a catch with one foot in bounds, like college.

 

[WoodysGirl]

I actually love the push out of bounds rule change, let them play, but if they are going to do do that, maybe they should consider calling it a catch with one foot in bounds, like college.

Ohh! what an adorable baby!!

 

[Little Jr]

I agree.

That takes away from the offense. If you are at the sideline and jump straight up... the defender now knows to take you out of bounds.

Fracken Dumb.

Exactly.Thats why it is a good rule. Most of the rules in the NFL are set up for the O. They have taken away from the D with all the rule changes in the past. You cant touch the QB or it's a flag. You cant get physical with the WR or it's flag. This one finally gives the D something. It is the WR job to catch the ball in bounds. Its the QBs job to put the ball where he can do that. It is the DB job not to let him do that.

 

[Word Mofo]

If you change the force out rule, also make it only one foot inbounds for a completion just like college

 

[tecolote]

Ohh! what an adorable baby!!

Thank you WG, after 2 beautifull non-football loving girls, I finally got my boy.

 

[dogunwo]

Bout time they made a rule that favors defense.

 

[Doomsday]

I like the new face mask rule. I thought it was a bad rule to start with if there was no intent to injure or no turning of the head. I also like the force out rule change.

Now, what the heck is a "forward handoff"? are they talking about a shovel pass behind the LOS?

That is what I am wondering. Not that Dallas uses that play.

 

[JonJon]

I would love to see a pair of players do that.

Like last year, Moss went up for a jump ball on a 60 yard pass over three Dolphins defenders. How crazy would it have been if instead of trying to outleap him (impossible), they just carried him out of bounds like the Queen of Sheba.

I'd like to see them do something like that.

Basically, the competition committee has nothing to do with their time, but the feel compelled to do SOMETHING.

If they carry the receiver out of the back of the opponent endzone, is that a touchback? And if they carry the player out of the back of their own endzone, is that a safety?

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Yeah, basically this new force out rule has just made the field smaller for the offense. Alot of those sideline routes will have to be modified a bit. What is real interesting to me is thinking about a back of the endzone catch, where the WR jumps up in the back of it and then is pushed out. When you are first and goal at the 5, that rule makes the field so much smaller to pass on and makes running in the red zone so much more important.

On the sideline, no reason to play the ball unless you think you can intercept, just concentrate on pushing him out of bounds. Not a bad rule, players just have to adjust. Definitely makes the field smaller, advantage defense.

Face Mask is also a decent rule, nothing really wrong with it, but they might have to give out a few more 15 yarders.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Eh, that sounds like a horrible rule as written.

So, WR in dead middle of field jumps up to catch ball. Safety catches him in mid-air and carries him to the sideline before depositing the WR on the ground out of bounds, and suddenly it is an incomplete pass because nothing touched in bounds.

Obviously my hypothetical is extreme, but the rules would allow that. And when you start looking at the difficult calls on the sideline as is, then this strikes me as extraordinarily bad change.

I agree that it's an extreme but what you're going to see, a lot more, is that those jump balls into the corner, are likely not going to to happen anymore because the defender doesn't have to worry about actually covering anymore, he can just let the WR jump up to get the ball, and then simply push him out of bounds while he's still in the air. No penalty, no catch.

This is going to eliminate some of those corner throws, and jump balls, I believe.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Yeah, basically this new force out rule has just made the field smaller for the offense. Alot of those sideline routes will have to be modified a bit. What is real interesting to me is thinking about a back of the endzone catch, where the WR jumps up in the back of it and then is pushed out. When you are first and goal at the 5, that rule makes the field so much smaller to pass on and makes running in the red zone so much more important.

On the sideline, no reason to play the ball unless you think you can intercept, just concentrate on pushing him out of bounds. Not a bad rule, players just have to adjust. Definitely makes the field smaller, advantage defense.

Face Mask is also a decent rule, nothing really wrong with it, but they might have to give out a few more 15 yarders.

yeah, exactly what I was just saying myself. Good job.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

That is what I am wondering. Not that Dallas uses that play.

It must be something the writer of the article got screwed up since no one has yet to identify what a forward handoff is.

 

[LeonDixson]

The force out is going to be hard to deal with......especially if it is a play against us!

We rarely got that call in our favor anyway, CC. I think Owens was robbed (under the old rule) twice last year.

 

[WoodysGirl]

A communication device is now allowed in the helmet of one defensive player.
Impact: This will give defensive coordinators a quicker and more efficient way of calling plays. But just like when the technology was installed in quarterback helmets, there will be some growing pains. The designated defender must grow accustomed to relaying calls that are being spoken rather than signaled from the sideline. Offenses may use more hurry-up attacks and sugar huddles hoping to exploit clubs with communication problems, as the device is turned off after 15 seconds like with quarterbacks. Teams also must identify an every-down player to handle the role, which isn't easy for teams like New England that frequently substitute personnel.
"The concept of it is fine but the logistics of it are a little bit of a different story," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick, whose team was one of 25 to vote in favor of the proposal. "You don't always have a quarterback in the game on defense like you do on offense. ... I don't think it's as easy to do on defense."

We make heads or tails out of the NFL's new coin flip rule for you. (Al Messerschmidt / Getty Images)

Teams that win the coin toss can now defer until the second half.

Impact: Significant. NFL officiating chief Mike Pereira said the majority of college coaches in 2007 opted to defer and receive the second-half kickoff.
"I think you may see deferrals later in the year as you have weather issues," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who is the co-chairman of the NFL's competition committee. "If you've got a club that's known for playing good defense, you could see them [defer]. It's going to be interesting to see what the philosophies are going to be."

Unless literally carried out by a defensive player, receivers must land with two feet inbounds for a completion.
Impact: This "force out" rule takes pressure off sideline officials, who are sometimes forced to make difficult judgment calls. Pereira said that half of the 16 force outs last season were ruled correctly. The change eliminates the guess work.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7980294/These-new-rules-will-have-an-impact-on-NFL

 

[Little Jr]

We rarely got that call in our favor anyway, CC. I think Owens was robbed (under the old rule) twice last year.

3 times. 2 times he had one foot in and they still called him out of bounds.


It hasnt ruined the college game. I dont see it hurting the pro game.