What NFL Rule Changes Would Benefit the Kansas City Chiefs Best?
As the league’s proposed fourth-and-15 onside kick alternate fell to the wayside, Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr looked at five rule changes that could help the league.
The fourth-and-15 rule was the first rule Orr proposed, but his second rule could benefit the Kansas City Chiefs.
Timeouts should carry over
It always seems odd to me the way that coaches pile away timeouts for the end of the first half, like squirrels storing away momentum for the long, cold winter. Timeouts should not be half dependent because, inevitably, a team is more likely to need its timeouts at the end of a game. Bad coaches blow timeouts for all types of erroneous reasons: formation confusion, the inability to relay a play, being surprised by a personnel grouping the opponent throws out, etc. They should be punished for such lapses in preparation. So often at the end of a game, if a team ahead by a score can simply outlast the finite number of timeouts its opponent has, it is able to win the game. But, if an opponent has responsibly managed itself to that point at the end of the fourth quarter, it should be rewarded with more of an opportunity to stop the clock and get the ball back for another possession.
This could help Head Coach Andy Reid and his clock management woes that luckily haven’t surfaced recently.
Another rule that would benefit the Chiefs would be employing the XFL’s extra point rule.
Modified XFL extra point rule
I do think that pushing back the extra point has added a bit of flare to a once meaningless play. I also think that, should teams feel content with ignoring the analytics and continuing to insist on kicking the one-point extra point, they should be able to do so. The league should do more, however, to set in place a risk/reward system for a team willing to either A) Take a big chance at the beginning of the game, or B) Execute a miraculous play at the end of a game when down by more than one traditional score. That’s why I would advocate for adopting portions of the XFL’s extra point rule, which eliminated the kick altogether and implemented a series of one-, two- and three-point tries at various yardages. I think teams should still have the kicking option, but also have a set of 2- and 3-point options based on completing a score from, say, the 7- and 15-yard lines, respectively.To me, the argument currently being wielded by the NFL that they do not want to make it too easy for an opponent to come back at the end of a game is worthless. Nothing is earned over the course of a game until time runs out. If a coach is upset about a fourth-and-15 conversion or three-point conversion shaking the foundation of his once insurmountable lead, he should have done a better job preparing for said scenario.
With the game evolving, it would be nice to see the NFL step out of its traditional comfort zone and add some new rules to increase scoring and, of course, make it more fun for Chiefs fans.
For Orr's other suggested rule changes, click here to read the full story.
