NFL Rules Committee, Tweaks , Officiating

FlaPack

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On the post game thread the discussion moved into rules and tweaks and officiating, yes and calls in the GB/ SF game. Thought this was a interesting discussion and deserved a thread. So…..

Some years back the league made the decision to relax the rules to promote scoring. At that time the product was hard to “sell”, rating were meh and they wanted to appeal to a younger audience that did not want to sit through a 14-10 defensive struggle. Mostly directed to benefit the WR, protect the QB and limit what a DB can do

So fast forward to today. Every sports league has followed the same formula. MLB juiced the ball and let players juice to increase scoring, the NBA to relaxed rules to get away from the Pistons “bad boy” thug defense. I don’t think it was about the whiny fans as much as the NFL found out this formula of football was a cash cow

What unfortunately happened is the league and more so the competition committee overreacted to the PI debacle in the NOLA playoff game, or the “tuck rule” or back further the “Bert Emanuel Rule” on what was a catch in the Rams / Bucs playoff game. So they basically put themselves in a rock and a hard place. You can’t move the clock back to want it was, like it or not 20m+ people watch the product and networks pay billions and scoring is what the majority of fans want.

As to player safety, the league really does not care much, history tells us that. Sure some window dressing rules that are basically in place to appease any type of legal action and show that they are “trying” to make the game safer. So what fixes this? Honestly not sure. Full time officials won’t help, MLB & NBA proves that every year. Rule tweaks will continue to happen just because they will. As Jerry Jones said last year, the league likes controversy. It crates a new news cycle each week. It prints money.

Sorry for the long rant and appreciate everyone for “listening” to my TED Talk
 
I don't disagree with you Pack. As I stated yesterday, my biggest concern is the inconsistency of the officials within a game. One play they let something obvious go, and then the next play they call something ticky tack. And if they call it on one team and not the other, fans react to that. Yes, I know they could throw a flag on every play, but they won't / can't.

It's frustrating during the regular season, but even more so in the playoffs when one bad call (especially at the end of a game) can influence the outcome of the game / who wins the Super Bowl. Bill Belichick was a genius at this, having his players push the envelope of what is legal, knowing full well the officials won't call much during the playoffs; but maybe it wasn't just Bill B, but also the NFL's love of Tom Brady. I say that because during last season's playoffs, during the NFC playoffs (not the Super Bowl) the Buccaneers had a lot of "no calls" go in their favor - especially against NO and then again vs GB. I'm not saying it's rigged - but I'm gonna say it; Tom Brady has been on very good teams, but his teams have gotten more than their fair share of "assistance" from NFL officials during the playoffs. There are a lot of good teams in the NFL, and to win as many SB's as Brady has takes a lot of luck along with skill.

Sorry for my rant as well.
 
every year will have some rules put in place for one event that happened year prior
 
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