Sometimes it’s the Little Things
It’s time to mutter the words that we reserve for just a few times every year “The NFL got it right.”
This week, among all the the excitement of college basketball, the NFL brass has been working on their proposed rule changes. Most of the attention for this time of the year rightfully comes to the NFL’s plan regarding the infamous catch rule.
But this week ProFootballTalk broke a story about a minute rule proposition that needs to be done. No more meaningless PAT attempts.
Last January the Vikings and the Saints played a thrilling playoff game that resulted in a walk-off TD catch by Stefon Diggs (you may be familiar). The part of that crazy conclusion we tend to forget is the ridiculous awkwardness that followed the celebration.
Despite there being zero seconds on the clock and no chance of a Saints victory, some of the players jogged back out from the locker room and begrudgingly toke the final snap.
A snap which took place at the 2-yard line (it was a kneel down aka a two point attempt). However, on the final play Stefon Diggs was penalized 15 yards for removing his helmet on the field of play. The referees, realizing that absolutely nobody wanted to go through this formality, simply placed the ball at the two and got it over with. (And no, there have been no reports that Sean Payton declined the penalty, mostly since he was trying to get the heck out of there after shaking Mike Zimmer’s hand).
ProFootballTalk also points a couple of other issues the NFL must consider if pure logic is not persuasive enough to remove a formality. Players get one last chance to go at each other and start a fight or cause an injury to an opponent they are aggravated at. Also, the rule puts the coaches at the crosshairs of point spread accusations. If Zimmer had decided to kick the PAT there it would have given the Vikings a 6 point lead and beat the spread. Because he didn’t add the point it’s likely thousands of betters found themselves short plenty of money. As PFT points out, sports betting is very close to being legalized and this could soon become a source of conspiracy theories.
At the end of the day the rule is not most pressing issue in the NFL and it never will be. But it’s no-brainer for the NFL to change a rule that provides no benefits.
