NFL set to revise guidelines for catch rule next season
By admin - 2018-03-23 05:21:23

There’s good news for critics of the NFL’s catch rule. It’s about to get a facelift.

The rule seemed to mar game after critical game last season. There was Jesse James’ apparent game-sealing TD catch for the Steelers against the Patriots that was wiped off the board after refs concluded James didn’t survive the ground. And there were a slew of others, including Kelvin Benjamin’s TD catch for the Bills against the Pats in the playoffs, the Jets’ Austin Seferian-Jenkins overturned TD against the Pats and the Chief’s Tyreke Hill’s overturned TD catch against the Dolphins. None was bigger than the James call, though. It gave the Pats home field advantage through the playoffs.

According to a Washington Post report, it’s not just fans and players who believe the rule needs some sprucing up. NFL VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent said Tuesday that the league is planning to toss out two key factors of the rule for the 2018 season.

“Slight movement of the ball, it looks like we’ll reverse that,” Vincent said. “Going to the ground, it looks like that’s going to be eliminated.”

Vincent said the revamped catch rule should be finalized in time for next week’s annual league meeting in Orlando, Florida.