NFL 2014 season chit chat and trash talk
August 7, 2014 at 10:10 pm
(This post was last modified: August 7, 2014 at 10:17 pm by Jackalope.)
NFL preseason is upon us, and what better way to open the season than a thread to talk NFL football?
I'm watching the Seattle @ Denver preseason opener - both teams look a bit rusty compared to last season, and Denver scored first with a 1 yard TD run on their second possession. So far, Denver looks better than they did in last year's Super Bowl. Of course, the odds of a repeat are slim, but I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch in the championship game this year. Just sayin'.
There's a number of rule changes this year, and one experiment (that is slated to run for the first two weeks of preseason): on point-after attempts, the ball will be spotted at the 15 instead of the two, resulting in PAT kicks being the equivalent of a 33-yard field goal instead of 20.
I've got mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, PAT kicks in the past have been pretty much a guaranteed point (last year, 99.6% of kicks were good) and injecting a little uncertainty is a good thing - then again, while I don't have aggregate statistics handy, 33 yard attempts are still a very high percentage play.
The question is this: what would this experiment mean for the two point conversion? In my estimation, since adopting the two point conversion rule twenty years ago, it's been good for the game, giving offenses more options, and adding uncertainty to defending PAT attempts. It would seem that spotting the ball at the 15 would make two point attempts a much lower percentage play, and perhaps relegates the play to a desperation move to try and pick up extra points to narrow the gap in the later part of the game. Having 13 more yards of field to work with gives the offense more of their playbook to work with, sure - but picking up 15 yards in the red zone on a single play is still a pretty tall order.
On the other other hand (three hands, WTF?), spotting the ball further out is going to provide opportunities for better kickers to further distinguish themselves from their peers.
One rule change that I like (rather, how the existing rule is enforced): Taunting or abusive language directed at a player or official is going to be handled with zero tolerance and result in a 15 yard penalty. Good. As a Seahawks fan since their inaugural season, seeing Golden Tate taunt the Rams' defense as he skipped into the end zone, not to mention Richard Sherman's trash talking and taunting - I hated to see that unsportsmanlike behavior, and I'm glad it's going to be more strictly penalized, even though my team was one of the worst offenders last year.
I'm watching the Seattle @ Denver preseason opener - both teams look a bit rusty compared to last season, and Denver scored first with a 1 yard TD run on their second possession. So far, Denver looks better than they did in last year's Super Bowl. Of course, the odds of a repeat are slim, but I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch in the championship game this year. Just sayin'.
There's a number of rule changes this year, and one experiment (that is slated to run for the first two weeks of preseason): on point-after attempts, the ball will be spotted at the 15 instead of the two, resulting in PAT kicks being the equivalent of a 33-yard field goal instead of 20.
I've got mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, PAT kicks in the past have been pretty much a guaranteed point (last year, 99.6% of kicks were good) and injecting a little uncertainty is a good thing - then again, while I don't have aggregate statistics handy, 33 yard attempts are still a very high percentage play.
The question is this: what would this experiment mean for the two point conversion? In my estimation, since adopting the two point conversion rule twenty years ago, it's been good for the game, giving offenses more options, and adding uncertainty to defending PAT attempts. It would seem that spotting the ball at the 15 would make two point attempts a much lower percentage play, and perhaps relegates the play to a desperation move to try and pick up extra points to narrow the gap in the later part of the game. Having 13 more yards of field to work with gives the offense more of their playbook to work with, sure - but picking up 15 yards in the red zone on a single play is still a pretty tall order.
On the other other hand (three hands, WTF?), spotting the ball further out is going to provide opportunities for better kickers to further distinguish themselves from their peers.
One rule change that I like (rather, how the existing rule is enforced): Taunting or abusive language directed at a player or official is going to be handled with zero tolerance and result in a 15 yard penalty. Good. As a Seahawks fan since their inaugural season, seeing Golden Tate taunt the Rams' defense as he skipped into the end zone, not to mention Richard Sherman's trash talking and taunting - I hated to see that unsportsmanlike behavior, and I'm glad it's going to be more strictly penalized, even though my team was one of the worst offenders last year.
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