NFL rule changes are knee-jerk fixes outside of one fresh idea

As the proverb goes, necessity is the mother of invention. As it pertains to NFL rule changes, that statement largely holds true. The NFL doesn’t tend to fix aspects of its product, whether because of safety or to address quality of play, unless it absolutely has to.

Usually, at least in recent years, that springs from a controversial result on the field. A bad rule — or a bad application of a rule — leads to a botched finish. Because the NFL remains one of the few mainstream cultural centerpieces, flaws are amplified in a way that they might not be in other leagues.

Ostensibly that would be a welcome measure of accountability, but even with fans yelling at the league, the NFL takes remarkably long to sort these things out. The effort to define a catch provides no clearer example. The league spent at least half a decade making the process riddled with more and more complexity before finally realizing, actually, perhaps simplification was called for.

This year’s crop of proposed tweaks and outright changes is true to form. After the disaster that was the end of the Rams-Saints playoff game, there was going to be a deep look at pass interference and replay procedure. Sure enough, both are well-represented on the docket. 

Kansas City has its effort to make OT more equitable by eliminating the walk-off touchdown on the opening possession, and seven of the nine proposals not submitted by the competition committee itself have to do with replay. The competition committee bridged the divide by proposing a one-year expansion of replay to include pass interference penalties, any score or turnover negated by a foul and every extra point and two-point attempt.

Other than what might be a measure of spite by the Eagles to force the Lions and Cowboys to alternate their annual Thanksgiving game between home and away each year, the most daring rules suggestion comes from Denver. According to the Broncos' proposal, an onside kick in the fourth quarter would be replaced by a fourth-and-15 attempt from the team's own 35-yard line.

Strategically it’d be interesting, though it gives a little preference to teams that are more adept in the intermediate and deep pass. However, since that’s the way of things in the NFL in general, perhaps it’s not the worst bias. Either way, one member of the league’s old guard isn’t here for it: