When the NFL announced that officials would place an added emphasis on enforcing taunting penalties, everyone knew it was going to be a terrible idea.
The league was taking a problem that didn’t exist and seemingly going out of its way to make the viewing experience demonstrably worse. After all, nothing good can come from throwing 15-yard penalties at players for flexing in the vicinity of an opponent.
It was a rule that was designed to take the fun and personality out of the game because a bunch of owners on the Competition Committee didn’t like seeing it. And by doing that, they opened up the possibility of a game-changing taunting call.
We nearly had that happen on Sunday.