A rule proposal put forth by the Detroit Lions during the NFL owners meetings this year was rejected by a vote on Tuesday and will not be approved. Detroit proposed a rule modification to prevent automatic first downs from being granted due to defensive holding and illegal contact penalties, but it lacked the votes needed for approval.<\/p>\n
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Before the vote, Lions coach Dan Campbell presented his case for the rule modification.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHonestly, I believe the situations that stood out the most for us included several second-and-16, second-and-20, second-and-10, second-and-10, second-and-9, and third-and-8 plays\u2014those, in particular,\u201d Campbell stated. \u201cOverlook the initial downs.\u201d Our guideline for first downs is insignificant. It would now be first-and-5 instead of 5 yards (and a first down)\u2014this is actually an improvement for the offense, by the way.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHowever, it’s particularly during the situations I just outlined, like second-and-long, third down, and when the contact occurs 6 yards down the field, often on a scramble\u2014which there were four of\u2014 it makes you think, \u2018Ugh.\u2019\u201d Dude, that feels unjust. Sure, how about this:<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t that correct? Why not impose a 5-yard penalty and replay the down?<\/p>\n
“So that was truly, for me, I realize that’s where it emerged.” It\u2019s precisely that specific segment of the field, those extended yardage scenarios where\u2014I\u2019m not referring to the obvious, you know this is an obvious hold. He\u2019s 10 yards down the field, but we encountered several instances that were quite similar. The contact occurs 6 yards down the field, and it is now second-and-12. “It really, dude, doesn\u2019t appear to be correct.”<\/p>\n
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Bills general manager Brandon Beane was among those at the owners meetings who voiced opposition to the Lions\u2019 rule change.<\/p>\n
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“The issue is when you encounter a team in third-and-12 or third-and-15, you’ll instruct your players to clutch a bit tighter, hold a bit firmer, since the worst situation will only lead to third-and-7,” Beane stated. “I believe there may be unforeseen outcomes of the regulation.” At times, it feels frustrating to concede a first down due to a questionable call\u2014and that\u2019s likely the source of the frustration\u2014but I have some concerns about potential unintended consequences.<\/p>\n
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A rule proposal put forth by the Detroit Lions during the NFL owners meetings this year was rejected by a vote on Tuesday and will not be approved. Detroit proposed a rule modification to prevent automatic first downs from being granted due to defensive holding and illegal contact penalties, but it lacked the votes needed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n