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that seems a bit extreme for every game. maybe take one once a month? better yet have a quality control team that also looks into this to check for discrepancies. something to keep this game honest especially in this day and age of legal gambling.

The only thing that would help is making the refs pass a polygraph before taking the field.

That was for play balls. Then they had K balls for kicking. Kickers said it was like kicking a brick.

the first paragraph is exactly why the officials should be full time employee's for their benefit as well as ours. they should have salary and benefits no different than the players or any other hired employee. i think also if they were given rule changes by the league that they intended to implement, officials should be able to review the rules to see if they would not only be of benefit but whether they could be enforced impartially each and every play. if the rules did not meet with the officials agreement then this should be sent back to the league to either fix the problem or cancel the change. agree on the 2nd paragraph but... with a review and regulatory board for officials they would be subject to approval and performance. they would also be subject to maintain integrity both in the spirit of the nfl and for legal ramifications. i believe MLB had some such system back in the day that regulated players and umpires against any gambling or other problems that could involve bribery etc. remember the black sox? the NBA has had a few troubles with crooked officials also if i remember right (i may not be remembering right as i never follow that sport) so it's not like this is something new. it is just something that the nfl may have turned a blind eye to for money. it has been stated that you would need an entire crew to be on the payroll for game fixing to work. that is not true. one official alone can influence the game and it's outcome. shaving points for refs or players has been around for a long time and has been regulated in the past. with a review board this would be a lot easier to control full time employee's. also the fear of being fired would certainly deter most officials.

didn't they just used to use the game ball for punts and kicking field goals? wasn't the teams able to use their ball that they handed to the ref like the brady deflated situation? it's been so long ago and quite frankly i never paid that much attention back then because it was usually a max of 50 yds consistently with the exception of the guy from the rams with a half foot and flat ended shoe.

Yeah, Kmet's production has fallen off a cliff. It's hard to believe a Ben Johnson offense features so little of these TE's. Loveland was excellent in camp, reportedly, but he's been a no show this entire season while Tyler Warren has become the best TE in football with Bowers out.

I haven’t read the NFL rulebook like I have HS and NCAA, but I don’t believe there is an actual 1-second rule built into snapper protection. It’s probably more of a philosophy thing if anything.

The halftime is an entertainment show and I dont watch it to be cultured. If I like the artist, I'll watch it, if I dont I wont.

It’s not Poles or Kmet when it comes to Kmet’s performance. It’s the unnecessary drafting of Loveland, and an offense with too many mouths to feed. Kmet was sacrificed in April at the draft.

That won’t help. The NFL officials as is spend basically a full time schedule reading rules, studying video, attending clinics, participating in rules study groups, reviewing performance, analyzing tendencies, etc. And that doesn’t include staying in shape or travel. Reality is, the same dudes would get hired, and a majority would be due to connections, nepotism, demographics, and/or other factors before actual officiating prowess/performance.

For him or the viewers? I ask because he isn’t touring in the U.S. I’m certainly not proud of an American citizen who isn’t proud of this country. He’s willing to receive the immense benefits, but not your here? Reminds me of people who counter-culture stickers on their Apple laptop and iPhone while sitting at Starbucks.

Can you also maintain a thread like this for 2025 TEs?

I dont mind the dynamic kickoff, I get the safety issues. But bringing the ball out to the 35 on a touchback etc is insane for all the reasons given above. You should be able to kick it out of the end zone and then the receiving team gets the ball on the 20. I understand the NFL wants close games and last minute victories - but that also makes the allocation of victories more random and less about who was the better team, and thats awful. I mean, why not just not play the game at all and have a huge hyped up coin toss that determines who wins instead? Sheesh.

I was commenting to my wife how much I hate the kickoff rules. It literally takes away the advantage of having a late lead that is 3 pts or less giving your opponent a good shot to start their drive close to mid field only needing 2-3 first downs to have a realistic shot. It puts more pressure on defenses at the end of the game to keep them out of range. Gone are the days of pinning your opponent inside their 10 with a min and change and like 1 time out. Even in a situation where your up by more than 3 points spotting your opponent that close to mid field makes it easier to get in range to score a TD.

Love this video

The Bears brought in 2 players for a workout today. A LH punter ??? and Jamal Williams/RB. Heard the Saints have a Left foot punter and maybe want the punt returner to get practice against that (different spin on the ball) also William could slide in if they have decided Roschon Johnson isnt up to par anymore.

I agree it’s far too easy to get a FG in todays game. It’s time to narrow the goal posts to 8 yards.

Side note to the New Orleans game, the Saints are 23rd in Pressure Rate. In contrast, the Bears have faced teams that apply a lot of pressure, in 4 other games: WAS - 4th, DAL - 8th, DET - 9th, MIN - 10th. I was suprised to see WAS that high, so maybe Caleb's performance was a little better than I thought considering he was facing a top 5 pressure defense and the offense still put up 25.

When Poles drafted Braxton in the fifth round it was a good pick. Getting a starter for day one and getting average play from him over the last 3 yrs was a plus. Now a new coach demands more and Braxton just hasnt gotten better of which the injury might be to blame but it doesnt matter. Wright must have been lazy and that is why BJ has mentioned him so many times. Motivation is a wonderful thing because his last game was all pro like. The bye week may have benefited the OL the most. Everyone played better and Washington is not a terrible defense. Midland by ratings but a real good pass rush. Theo just needs to build on a good game. He did not get overwhelmed the whole game. Jackson, who I have doubts, played a lot better. The OL may be jelling like we hoped it would.

Yeah, from what I can see, it seems he moves from 1-2 pretty fluidly, but then 2-3 and beyond, his eyes and feet separate.

It doesnt accomplish what the NFL wanted from the rules change. Im old fashion, my favorite player was Dick Butkus when I became a fan and loved the physicality of the game. He could not survive in todays rules. I get you need to protect the health of the players because they would make bad choices as far as taking care of themselves. So its just the game evolving and not necessary for the good the game.

As much I understand the greed part of the human experience, you would have to have a whole ref crew in on it. If the penalty on Theo took points off the board, that meant the cartel had the points with Washington. If that was the case, they lose the bet. One individual ref can affect several plays and still not change the natural outcome of the game. A whole crew is different and odds of that are slim. That would also have to include the review office of the NFL that can overturn any challenged play. I love conspiracy theories but this one doesn't resonate with common sense. Some events like the Black Sox scandal from 1917 just doesnt happen anymore. Everyone was in on it and one guy didnt go thru with it and it was exposed. Someone may have more knowledge than me but it one ref was paid to help get a different result and it doesnt happen, money lost, and I would suspect the gamblers would be very upset with that. Since they are gamblers, they would already know the odds. It would almost be impossible to get what result you want unless the whole crew was involved and then the review office of the NFL would have to be in on it.

I don't like the onside kick, as it removed the running start. The reason you are seeing monster field goals is due to the NFL letting teams break in the kicking balls.

after watching these new kickoff rules for some time now i truly dislike them. especially in tight games with time running out the field position caused by this new rule is atrocious. it starts teams out on a drive 2 first downs from kicking 60 yard plus field goals to win (somebody riddle me this... the nfl existed for 90+ years and a 50 yard field goal was considered nearly impossible. now it's almost like an extra point.). add to that mess, it eliminates legitimate on side kicks with this nonsense. if they are worried about injuries, make a rule that all special team players have to wear those helmets that help protect against concussions. add to that if they want to make all ST players wear knee support or whatever else to limit injury. thoughts?

This is an interesting video about Caleb and the OL.