Tag: NFL rules

Why NFL teams are reportedly furious about Tom Brady’s trespassing incident

It actually has nothing to do with the trespassing, but rather the fact that he appeared to be in violation of a CBA rule.

Tom Brady has gotten off to a funny and bumpy start in Tampa Bay. Shortly after Brady was ejected from a public park for violating quarantine orders, Brady accidentally trespassed in a Tampa Bay resident’s home when he thought he was visiting Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.

Brady walked in the wrong house. It was a simple mixup, but one that has reportedly enraged other NFL teams … and not because of the trespassing thing.

The bigger issue to NFL teams is that Brady was making contact with his new coach. Due to coronavirus concerns, the league has delayed offseason activities for teams, so that they may abide by quarantine rules.

But a CBA rule says that players are not allowed to meet with team coaches to discuss football before official offseason activities have commenced. As they haven’t, it could be conceived that Brady was in violation of CBA rules by visiting Leftwich. Other teams have reportedly reached out to the league to express their anger with Brady violating the rules.

Via CBS Sports:

According to [Jason] La Canfora, teams around the league have “conveyed their dismay to league officials” about Brady’s meeting, and since they believe the quarterback violated league policy, the teams are “anticipating some stern discipline” for Brady and/or the Buccaneers. As one source told Pro Football Talk, what Brady did was “totally illegal.”

I doubt we’ll see a suspension or anything close to it for Brady, but a fine might be in order if the league determines he was violating CBA rules.

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Report: NFL to eliminate pass interference challenges for 2020

After a year of testing out challenging pass interference calls, the results were terrible and have the NFL rule change up for elimination

After an officiating error failed to call pass interference in the final minute of the 2018 NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, the NFL looked to correct the problem for the future. Starting in the 2019 season, the league allowed coaches to challenge possible pass interference. However, it didn’t take long for that to be proven as a waste of everyone’s time.

Through the first nine weeks of the season, nearly 91% of all pass interference calls had been upheld, with just five being overturned in challenges. Though the percentage got better over the final weeks of the season (finishing with 24-of-101 being reversed), the damage had already been done. With such an awful rate and the bad publicity that came with it, it looks like pass interference challenges will not be back in 2020.

When teams were surveyed about the rule change, an overwhelming number didn’t think the rule should come back for next season, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The Baltimore Ravens weren’t immune to the issue either. Following an official calling pass interference against safety Tony Jefferson in the Ravens’ Week 3 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, Harbaugh didn’t throw the challenge flag. When asked about not using the rule, Harbaugh said it would have been a waste of a timeout.

“Unless it’s going to get overturned, and we have enough information now to know it’s not going to get overturned. It would have been a wasted challenge, 100 percent proven by the record to date.”

Though Harbaugh didn’t like the rule change, he did throw the challenge flag three times last season. Not a single one was overturned, according to Pro Football Reference.

Teams have proposed massive changes to the NFL’s officiating crew after what was widely considered a poor season. What those end up being and how it ultimately affects the league’s stance on pass interference challenges will have to be seen. But given the disdain shown by coaches like Harbaugh, it seems unlikely we’ll see the rule return next season.

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NFL will add 2 extra playoff teams starting this season

Starting this season, two extra NFL teams will make the playoffs.

NFL owners have voted in favor of an expanded playoff format, the league announced Tuesday. Beginning this season, the NFL will have two extra teams make the playoffs — one from the AFC and one from the NFC.

Instead of the usual 12 teams reaching the postseason, 14 teams will now qualify. Players agreed to the expanded playoffs in the new collective bargaining agreement with owners.

“Players and clubs both recognized that nothing energizes fans like the chance to see their team qualify for the playoffs and compete for the Super Bowl,” the league said in a statement.

Instead of the top two seeds in each conference earning a bye week, only the No. 1 seed in the AFC and NFC will have a playoff bye now.

CBS, NBC, Telemundo and Nickelodeon will air the additional Wild Card games. The Nickelodeon broadcast will be “tailored for a younger audience,” according to a press release from the NFL.

This marks the first time since 1990 that the NFL has expanded the playoff format. Thirty years ago, the playoffs increased from 10 teams to 12.

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Russell Wilson voices support for Seahawks throwback uniforms

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is pushing to see a comeback from the team’s throwback uniforms.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson probably earned himself a few more points with the 12th Man on Wednesday. Wilson shared a popular edited photo of him wearing Seattle’s classic throwback uniform saying they are a “MUST!”

The Seahawks have had multiple uniforms throughout the years, but their classic royal blue and silver look is iconic. These were the original uniforms worn by the Seahawks from their inception in 1976 up until the 2002 season. Despite slight variations here or there, it is the longest uniform style worn by Seattle in franchise history, and will always have a special place in fans’ hearts.

Unfortunately, the Seahawks have not been able to wear their beloved throwbacks due to an NFL rule regarding helmets. The league has a strict rule in place where players are only allowed one helmet a season, making it illegal for the Seahawks to switch between a silver helmet and their current navy ones.

Some teams, such as the Redskins, do attempt to wear throwback uniforms with their current helmets, but it typically leads to awkward clashes.

However, it is possible the NFL might be ditching this rule entirely, starting in the 2021 season. While no official decision has been made, there are reported discussions in league circles.

Should this be the case and the NFL does away with this rule, then it is hard to imagine the Seahawks wouldn’t be among the first in line to ask Nike – the league’s current exclusive uniform partner – to provide them with their popular throwbacks.

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Ravens and Chargers propose 2 new changes to NFL officiating crews

The Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers would like to see two more officials added to NFL games to help make sure the calls are right.

The Baltimore Ravens are trying to make the NFL just a little bit better. This offseason, the Ravens offered up two proposals to alter the officiating that will be considered and voted on during the NFL’s Annual Meeting later in March.

Both Baltimore and the Los Angeles Chargers proposed adding a “booth umpire” and a “senior technology advisor” to every game in an effort to provide better officiating.

Considering the NFL’s public issues with in-game calls and replays, it seems like an easy decision to make. The more officials, especially up in the booth and on replays, the more chances officials have to get calls right in the moment.

This isn’t the first time the Ravens have brought up the idea of adding more officials. Harbaugh publicly called for an extra one or two officials and expanded replays, according to NFL.com, to make sure the right calls are made and replays accurately fix any missed or incorrect calls.

If we can put somebody up there in the box that’s got a better angle that can help officiate the game from up there, let’s do that. If we can add more plays into replay, let’s do that. Because at the end of the game it’s about the credibility of the sport, and we can’t have the other leagues out-pacing us in terms of the use of technology to make sure the games are fair and well-officiated.

We have great officials. These guys are incredible at what they do. We’ve also put a lot of rules in place that have made it really tough on them. They’ve got a lot on their plate, so let’s add an official, let’s add two officials, let’s put one up in the box, let’s expand replay if we want, and let’s make sure at the end of the day the fans walk out of the stadium and walk away from the TV sets knowing that was a good, hard-fought, well-played, fairly officiated game, and the outcome is as it should be. That it was correct and the right team won the game.

This also isn’t the only potential changes coming to the officiating crews as early as next season. The NFL has already begun changing the leadership at the top of their officiating department, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.

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Pass interference review is the new catch rule

How soon we all forget. Only a few years ago NFL fans were plagued by the question of what exactly is a catch. What we thought we saw with our own eyes was was wrong – according to the NFL. It was a national nightmare. No one knew if a catch would …

How soon we all forget. Only a few years ago NFL fans were plagued by the question of what exactly is a catch. What we thought we saw with our own eyes was was wrong — according to the NFL. It was a national nightmare. No one knew if a catch would stand or not. Then the NFL came to its senses and simplified the catch rule. Sure, there are still some weird decisions, but the issue has been fixed for the most part. The league simply couldn’t have that, so now we have the new catch rule. It’s pass interference review.

The pass interference review was a reaction — or overreaction — to the infamously missed pass interference/blown call in the NFC title game between the Rams and the Saints. There were many ideas thrown around that would remediate the issue. The NFL seems to have picked the worst one.

Even though everyone was saying that the pass interference review would come back to only anger fans and confuse coaches, the NFL trudged onward. It was all fine in the beginning. It was fine only because referees — and the folks in New York helping out with reviews — simply refused to overturn missed pass interference calls. The burden of proof had to be so amazingly high that there wasn’t a challenge that could be overturned. If the call was missed on the field, it wasn’t changed on replay. Tough luck. Coaches adjusted and they knew that challenging for pass interference wasn’t a good investment when it came to their challenges and timeouts. There were some obvious missed calls — just google “Ravens Texans missed pass interference” — but that was life.

Then suddenly things changed. Some ticky-tack calls were being overturned — this happened in the Panthers-Saints a few weeks ago — and now we are exactly where we did not want to be. Pass interference reviews are nebulous. They are being reffed to a level where small plays are being overturned while other pass interference is being overlooked. Reviews are being broken down frame by frame and the intent of the rule is being lost. It’s the exact same issues we had with the catch rule a few years ago. Except, this time it’s totally worse because it’s a subjective penalty. Everyone knew — or thought they knew — what a catch was. No one really knows what’s pass interference unless it’s blatantly obvious.

So this is where we sit at Week 14 of one of the most exciting seasons in recent NFL history. We have storylines like Lamar Jackson, the crumbling Patriots dynasty, the rebirth of the Niners, and amazing playoff races in both leagues. We also sit here with the dark cloud of what important game will be decided by a pass interference review. If the league simply kept doing what it was doing early on in the year, it would make sense. They apparently didn’t want to do that. Now, “what’s a catch,” has turned into “what’s the burden of proof for pass interference?”