2008 NFL Rule Changes

The NFL has voted in a few rule changes this week, here’s a summary and how they may effect the Redskins:

One Defensive Player Allowed to Have a Radio in his Helmet

I don’t really see this making much of a difference in terms of defensive performance.  Coaches who were giving out signals previously will now call in the play to a defensive player and he will end up calling out the defense either verbally or through signals, not much of a difference.  The main advantage would be if a coach notices the offense giving away their plays or steals an offensive signal/audible, they can get it into a player on the field instead of having to substitute or wait until after the possession. 

The more intriguing question is who gets the radio on the Redskins.  Two players are allowed to have a helmet with a radio in it, but only one ‘radio accessible’ helmet can be on the field at a time.  For the Redskins my guesses would be London Fletcher and Laron Landry – likely the two defensive guys who are on the field for the most plays.

And of course now the Redskins will have two radios that don’t work whenever they go on the road instead of just one.

Force Out Rulings Eliminated

Now this rule change could have a large impact on games.  Now if a player lands out of bounds the pass will be ruled incomplete whether he was forced out by the defense or not.  I suspect defensive players will try to take advantage of this rule and the ‘jump ball’ endzone passes may be a less effective play as a defensive player can just shove the guy out of bounds instead of worrying about making a play on the ball.  

The force out was one of those judgement calls that fans feel always go against their team, so getting rid of it is a good call by the NFL.

Field Goals now Reviewable

This came up last year after a Cleveland FG was ruled no-good and then oddly reversed to ‘good’ after it was replayed on the jumbotron.  Good rule to have in place, but the odds of it ever coming up in a game again are pretty low.

Teams can now Defer upon Winning the Coin Toss

Whatever.

5 Yard Face Masking Penalty Eliminated

This means that incidental contact of the face mask is now legal, and penalties will only be called if there is a twisting or tugging of the mask.  The Redskins rarely get hit with the 5 yard penalty (go big or go home), so unlikely this will make a difference.

Direct Snap from Center that goes Backward will now be treated as a Fumble

This was previously ruled as a false start.  I didn’t even know this rule existed, so don’t expect to see this change anything.  I will say that the new rule makes a heck of a lot more sense than the old rule, so good on you NFL.

Potential changes that did not pass include the ‘no long hair’ rule and a potential playoff reseeding where a wild card team could have home field advantage.