Our Clients:

Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

May 28, 2020 12:13 pm

NFL punts 4th-and-15 proposal, adopts other rule changes

NFL owners tabled a vote on a proposal for an alternative onside kick — which would instead allow a fourth-and-15 opportunity — at Thursday’s virtual league meeting, according to multiple reports.

The league announced four rules changes that did pass Thursday, but the onside-kick alternative reportedly did not have sufficient support.

The MMQB reported there was a vote that did not pass. The NFL Network reported there was no official vote, but a virtual show of hands indicated there was not enough support to garner the necessary 24 of 32 votes.

It is the second consecutive year in which the fourth-and-15 proposal has been brought up, and it is expected to be addressed again in the future. Under this year’s proposal, a team kicking off would have had the option — twice per game maximum, and only in regulation — of attempting a fourth-and-15 play from its own 25 yard line instead of kicking off.

The rules the owners did approve Thursday were:

–Making permanent the expansion of replay reviews to include scoring plays or turnovers that were negated by a foul, as well as any placekicking attempt.

–Expanding defenseless player protection to a kickoff or punt returner who is in possession of the ball but has not had time to avoid contact.

–Preventing teams from manipulating the game clock via multiple dead-ball fouls when the clock is running.

–Increasing the number of players who can return from injured reserve from two to three per team.

The rule regarding clock manipulation was put in place after teams such as the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans used delay-of-game or false-start penalties to bleed time in the fourth quarter of games this past season.

According to NFL Network, the owners also approved the competition committee report, which includes a plan to test expanded officiating with the help of a replay official during the preseason as an experimentation. This comes after broader proposals to insert a “sky judge” or “technology adviser” were turned down.

The league also announced that the owners approved an extension of their deal with EA Sports to produce the “Madden NFL” video game.

The Action Network reports the new deal runs for five years and is worth $2 billion.

–Field Level Media



You may also like

Apr 27, 2022 8:57 am

Giants go for 2-game sweep of crosstown rival A’s

The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in…

Apr 27, 2022 8:42 am

Guardians, slumping Franmil Reyes take on Shohei Ohtani’s Angels

The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels will play the third game of their four-game series Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., as the Guardians try to rediscover their offense. Cleveland’s…

Apr 27, 2022 8:35 am

Playoff-bound Kings seek to keep Kraken reeling

The Los Angeles Kings are playoff-bound for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The Kings (43-27-10, 96 points) punched their postseason ticket Tuesday night when Dallas defeated Vegas in…

More Archive News

Apr 27, 2022 8:57 am

Giants go for 2-game sweep of crosstown rival A’s

The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in…

Apr 27, 2022 8:42 am

Guardians, slumping Franmil Reyes take on Shohei Ohtani’s Angels

Apr 27, 2022 8:35 am

Playoff-bound Kings seek to keep Kraken reeling

Apr 27, 2022 8:17 am

Six-man rotation kicks in as Astros, Cristian Javier face Rangers

Apr 27, 2022 8:08 am

Jason Robertson, Stars can lock up playoff berth vs. Coyotes

Read all
fb-post
advertisment
title-icon

Upcoming events

See all odds