XFL Changing The Game Of Football With New Rules

The XFL is starting up in 22 days and now fans have rules for the game. There will be some innovations to football made in this new incarnation of the XFL including no field goals for extra points.

According to the newly released XFL rules there will be three options after a touchdown. None of those is a kick for one extra point.

Three options are available for teams after scoring a touchdown in the new XFL. A single point play from the two yard line, a two-point play from the three yard line and a three-point play from the ten yard line. Teams will have no option to kick for an extra point. This could provide a lot of different options for scoring as well which makes going to overtime even less likely.

There are several alterations to the usual American football rules. Some of these changes make sense. Other things were switched around to speed up the game.

• Kickoffs will be from the 30 yard line. The blocking teams will line up at the receiving team’s 35 and 30 yard lines. Only the kicker and the returner are allowed to move until the ball is caught, or they have to wait three seconds after it hits the ground. Any ball that bounces out of bounds will go to the 45 yard line. They want to take away fair catches and touch-backs.
• Players are not allowed to leave the line of scrimmage during punts until after the kick. This is to keep from fair catches and coffin corner kicks.
• Overtime will be a shootout-style. Each team will have five single-play possessions from the five yard line. They will keep going until a winner is announced.
• Forward passes will be allowed twice in each play. This is to encourage more trick plays.
• One foot in bounds counts for a possession. This is to discourage injuries.
• There will be 9 officials during a game. Most of them will have experience at the D1 level.
• Reviewing of a play can be done after calls inside five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Hawk-Eye technology will be use in the broadcast truck.
• Offensive linemen will be allowed to go two yards downfield when a pass is thrown. This can be done to avoid flags.
• XFL hopes to decrease the time. The game clock will continue running after incomplete passes of when a runner goes out of bounds. This rule will be suspended if there are less than two minutes left in each half.
• There will be no coin toss, the home team will choose. During overtime the visiting team chooses.

Let’s see if those rules will help change the game of football. They could certainly result in faster gameplay.