IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
The NFL’s competition committee will make a number of rule-change recommendations to the league’s owners next week in Orlando, many of which, quite frankly, nobody really cares about. But there are a couple that will be worth following.
One is a proposed modification of the current overtime system (for postseason games only) that would give both teams a possession opportunity if the team that won the coin toss scores on a field goal rather than a touchdown on its first possession. If the team that won the coin toss scores a touchdown on its first possession, the game would be over. If both teams kicked field goals on their first possessions, the game would revert to the old sudden-death formula.
The proposal would need the approval of 24 of the league’s 32 teams to be adopted. Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, who is co-chair of the competition committee along with Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, said he has no sense for whether the owners will green-light it.
But he said the dramatic improvement in field-goal accuracy in the league has given the team that wins the overtime coin toss a big edge.
``From 1974 to 1993, it was literally 50-50 as far as winning the coin toss and winning the game,’’ McKay said. ``Since ’94, the numbers have changed dramatically. Teams that win the (overtime) toss have won 59.8 percent of the time and teams that lose it win just 38.5 percent of the time.
``In our minds, we’re trying to rebalance the advantage that’s been gained since ’94 based on field goal accuracy being greatly improved and drive-start position being improved.’’
A couple of other times, the competition committee has proposed modifying the overtime system. Both times it was shot down. One proposal would have guaranteed both teams at least one possession even if the first team with the ball had scored a touchdown. The second proposal suggested moving the kickoff from the 30 to the 35-yard line in overtime.
In a proposal much more likely to be passed, the competition committee will propose an expansion of the rule protecting a defenseless receiver.
Currently, a defender is prohibited from launching himself into a receiver with his helmet, face mask, shoulder or forearm until the receiver has possession of the ball and both feet on the ground. The competition committee has proposed changing the language of the rule to prevent that kind of hit until the receiver has a chance to protect himself.
``We’ve seen cases where players have caught the ball and have had no opportunity to protect themselves in any way before he’s become a runner,’’ McKay said.
``If you look back at (the hits on) defenseless receivers and where we were in ’94, we’ve come a long way. But there’s more we’d like to limit.’’
To read our previous posts on a busy day with the Eagles, click here.
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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