Archer: Cowboys' emphasis on possible rule changes

Cotton

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Cowboys' emphasis on possible rule changes

March, 23, 2015

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com


IRVING, Texas – The owners meetings are taking place this week in Phoenix, and there are 23 rule-change proposals on the table and none of them involve what constitutes a catch, so theDez Bryant Catch debate will live on.

Of the 23 proposals, 13 involve instant replay.

Instead of breaking down all of the possible changes, let’s look at five that have at least a little bit of impact on the Dallas Cowboys. (Personal note, love the fact that getting rid of the cut to 75 is on the table. I’ve always felt it was worthless, especially with the generally quicker turnaround to the final preseason game and with most teams electing to sit their regulars in that last game.)

Instant replay

The New England Patriots have proposed that every play can be challenged, except for scoring plays and turnovers that are already automatically reviewed. There could be a worry about making the games too long, but I’ve never heard fans at games or those watching on television say, ‘How long is this game anyway?’Instant replay
Part of that rule would require a team to call a timeout instead of having to throw a red challenge flag. The downside is that we don’t get to see Jason Garrett’s perfect form as he throws the flag to the middle of the field.

The Washington Redskins have promoted a third replay challenge. Currently a team only gets a third if its first two challenges are successful.

The Chicago Bears have proposed making it allowable to review whether a play clock had expired before the snap. For all of the Cowboys fans that wonder why Tony Romoalways takes the clock down to the final second – even if he doesn’t – this has to add to your anxiety.

Point-after attempt

The Patriots have proposed to make all point-after attempts from the 15 yard line or what be a 32-yard kick. Last year 99.3 percent of the point-after kicks were successful, so the idea is to make the attempt a little more difficult.

Dan Bailey made six of his seven field goal attempts between 30-39 yards and has made 38-of-40 attempts in his career. He has never missed a kick from inside 35 yards in his career.

The Indianapolis Colts have proposed giving a team a chance at a 1-point pick on a 50-yard try if they make a 2-point conversion for a nine-point possession. Way too weird, no?

Overtime

When the rule was changed a few years ago to give each team a possession if a touchdown is not scored on the first drive, it was to take some of the importance of the coin flip away. The Chicago Bears proposed to guarantee each team a possession even if the team with the ball scores first.

The Cowboys went 1-1 in overtime in 2014. They lost the coin flip to the Houston Texans, but the defense was able to get a stop and Bailey kicked the winning field goal on the Cowboys’ first drive. The Washington Redskins also won the toss to start overtime in the Week 8 meeting and kicked a field goal on their first drive. The Cowboys couldn’t answer with Tony Romo playing with what turned out to be two transverse process fractures, losing 20-17.

Pre-draft workouts

I’ve long believed the Cowboys had an advantage in the weeks leading up to the draft because of how many pro players played high school football in the area. The teams in Florida also have a slight edge, especially the Miami Dolphins.

The Philadelphia Eagles want to change a rule that allows a team to work out as many players as they would like leading up to the draft provided those players are from the metropolitan area of the club. The Eagles want to forbid teams from working out players that already attended the NFL scouting combine. Why? Well, there’s not as many draft-eligible players in each club’s metropolitan area, so it’s unfair.

Boo hoo. There aren’t a lot of players near Green Bay either, but the Packers seem to be able to draft well.

Roof

How many times have you been to AT&T Stadium on a perfect day and wondered why the roof is not open?

Under the current rules, once a decision is made on the status of a retractable roof 90 minutes prior to game time, it is final. It’s either closed or open.

After the cockamamie point-after discussion, the Colts have proposed allowing the roof to be opened for the second half if certain weather parameters are met. A decision has to be made within five minutes left in the second quarter and the coaches of each team have to be notified at halftime.

One of the reasons why the Cowboys keep the roof closed even in good weather is to keep fans out of the sun for 3-4 hours. Would they alter their approach with just two quarters of football?
 

Cotton

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Talk increases of moving extra points to the 1-yard line

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 23, 2015, 12:40 PM EDT

There’s increasing talk at the league meetings this week that the NFL may be ready for a significant rules change that would make two-point conversion attempts much more common.

The change is simple: Move extra points from the 1-yard line to the 2-yard line. That wouldn’t have any noticeable change on the success rate of extra point kicks (the difference to an NFL kicker between essentially a 19-yard field goal and a 20-yard field goal is nothing), but it would have significantly change how often coaches go for two. From the 2-yard line, two-point conversions have been successful less than half the time. But from the 1-yard line, two-point conversions would likely be successful more than half the time. That means that most of the time, going for two would have better odds than kicking the extra point.

There’s not currently a specific rules proposal regarding moving extra points to the 1-yard line, but Sal Paolantonio reported on SportsCenter this morning that there’s an undercurrent of movement toward making the change. And NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Peter King in today’s Monday Morning Quarterback that there’s a chance of such a change.

It’s unclear, however, how enthusiastic the owners are about making such a change. The league might experiment with having all extra points at the 1-yard line for the preseason, just to see how big a difference it makes. Then, if owners, coaches, players and fans like it, the move could be made for the regular season in 2016.

One thing is clear: The league wants to find a way to make the extra point a more interesting play. Right now, it’s the most boring scoring play in sports.

____________________________

He meant moving it from the 2 to the 1, and I would be more for this than the stupid bonus kick after a 2 pt conversion idea.
 

ravidubey

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Well, it almost certainly would increase the success rate when teams actually do try for two.

The consequences of failure are so severe though that teams still might be hesitant to go for two outside of the 4th quarter. Scoring 6 is infinitely worse than scoring 7 when that one point ends up being the difference in the game. Ask Chan Gailey-- he actually lost a game for us that way vs. the Bears.

I guess if your short yardage game with 1 yard to go is 75% successful or more, then it makes sense to go for it vs. average defenses.
 
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