"Radical" retro rule idea

[Bryan]

What if missed FGs were no longer a turnover of possession at the spot of the kick? What if missed FGs were treated like punts, with kicks being downed on the field or returned by the defense. Kicks that went out of the endzone would be touchbacks. Teams would be more inclined to try long FGs, as the most likely outcome of a miss would be the opponent getting the ball at the 20. Overall scoring would go up, which seems to be a prerequisite for any NFL rule change. Teams would rarely punt the ball. I think it would make things more interesting.

[JeffreyMiller]

Count me in

[Brian wolf]

After that ridiculous pass interference call against KC that helped TB go up 21-6 before halftime - which was incidental contact - its really time again for the competition commitee to look at pass interference calls and how they consistently decide games or allow comebacks and once and for all help out defenses by changing the penalty to just a 15 yard penalty, like in college but it probably will never happen ...

[sluggermatt15]

I like the FG idea. Though I think it eliminates the risk of any sort of long kick attempt. But, I do like the incentive it creates the possibility of more scoring. Offense and points are what the fans want to see, right?

[JuggernautJ]

To the best of my recollection the rule was introduced to increase scoring and excitement.
I thought the reasoning was that "penalizing" a long field goal attempt would prompt more teams to "go for it" on 4th down thus generating either a first down (and more offense) or a turn-over-on-downs (again, the offense takes over).

[racepug]

After that ridiculous pass interference call against KC that helped TB go up 21-6 before halftime - which was incidental contact - its really time again for the competition commitee to look at pass interference calls and how they consistently decide games or allow comebacks and once and for all help out defenses by changing the penalty to just a 15 yard penalty, like in college but it probably will never happen ...

I like the way the CFL does it (I found out about this just recently): if deemed to be deliberate then it's called pretty much the way the NFL does so, but if the P.I. is deemed to be accidental then it's a 10 yard penalty (from the line of scrimmage) and an automatic first down for the offense. Think of the contrast between that lame call that went against Dallas in Super Bowl XII and what happened 9 days ago.

[racepug]

I don't know if it's "retro" but another rule change I'd like to see in the N.F.L. is kneel downs being considered as a "team rush" instead of negative yardage for any individual rusher.

[RichardBak]

I hate field goals. And while I shouldn't, I hate FG kickers. I totally identify with Alex Karras's bit about Garo Ypremian shouting excitedly yelling "I keeek a touchdown!!" You have a bunch of guys pounding the crap out of each other for 59 minutes, 57 seconds, and then some guy kicks a FG to settle things. Don't seem right. If there's any rule change I could totally get behind, it's to make kickers be position players--ya know, the Lou Groza/George Blanda/Gino Cappelletti types.

Yeah, I know---I'm a fossil. But it's really enlightening to look at game film from the '50s and see teams regularly go for a first down instead of a FG when they were close in. I know a lot of those decisions to "go for it" revolved around the fact that placekicking was still an evolving art, and accuracy and distance were nothing like we've come to expect today. But a lot of it was because of the strategy of trying to get seven points instead of settling for three.

A case in point was the opening minutes of the 1952 title game between Cleveland and Detroit. The Lions were facing a 4th and 1 inside the Browns' 5, and there was absolutely no hesitation on the Lions' part--no time spent talking things over on the sideline, no indecision at all. Lions just lined up, Layne dove for a first down, and the drive continued. Doak Walker capped it off with a short plunge for the TD. Although the Lions had several reliable place-kickers available--Layne, Walker, Pat Harder--the mentality often was to forego the FGA and go for the whole enchilada (or the whole golumbki, for any Polacks reading this).

My brontosaurus rant is over.

[rhickok1109]

I hate field goals. And while I shouldn't, I hate FG kickers. I totally identify with Alex Karras's bit about Garo Ypremian shouting excitedly yelling "I keeek a touchdown!!" You have a bunch of guys pounding the crap out of each other for 59 minutes, 57 seconds, and then some guy kicks a FG to settle things. Don't seem right. If there's any rule change I could totally get behind, it's to make kickers be position players--ya know, the Lou Groza/George Blanda/Gino Cappelletti types.

Yeah, I know---I'm a fossil. But it's really enlightening to look at game film from the '50s and see teams regularly go for a first down instead of a FG when they were close in. I know a lot of those decisions to "go for it" revolved around the fact that placekicking was still an evolving art, and accuracy and distance were nothing like we've come to expect today. But a lot of it was because of the strategy of trying to get seven points instead of settling for three.

A case in point was the opening minutes of the 1952 title game between Cleveland and Detroit. The Lions were facing a 4th and 1 inside the Browns' 5, and there was absolutely no hesitation on the Lions' part--no time spent talking things over on the sideline, no indecision at all. Lions just lined up, Layne dove for a first down, and the drive continued. Doak Walker capped it off with a short plunge for the TD. Although the Lions had several reliable place-kickers available--Layne, Walker, Pat Harder--the mentality often was to forego the FGA and go for the whole enchilada (or the whole golumbki, for any Polacks reading this).

My brontosaurus rant is over.

Naw, if you were a real fossil, you'd want to go back to awarding 5 points for a FG, 4 points for a TD, and 2 points for a successful conversion

[RichardBak]

[/quote]
Naw, if you were a real fossil, you'd want to go back to awarding 5 points for a FG, 4 points for a TD, and 2 points for a successful conversion [/quote]

Now that's going way back to the very first NFL---the Neanderthal Flintstone League