Are there any rules differences from the NFL?
There are several significant ones:
- The most notable one is no kickoffs, which is something Polian insisted on if he was going to be involved. They did this because data they collected said the kickoff was largely a non-dynamic play where the largest number of injuries occurred. Also, fans and players dislike the kickoff on the whole, and it affects overall game time. Instead, the ball starts on the 25-yard line after each score or at the start of the game.
- Instead of an onside kick, if a team is trailing by 17 points or there's five minutes or less left in the fourth quarter, a team can attempt an onside conversion. They get the ball on their own 28-yard line and have to convert a fourth-and-12. If they do, they keep the ball and keep going. Don't convert, and the opponent takes over from the point at which they stop them.
- There are no extra point kicks, so a team is going for two after every touchdown.
- Overtime rules have the ball starting on the 10-yard line with four downs and a two-point extra point if a team scores (field goals are not allowed).
- There's also a significant change in pass-rushing rules for defenses. Teams can rush only five players and can't blitz players from the secondary.
If you have five men on the line of scrimmage on defense, those are the only players who can rush. "With less than a month to get our teams ready to play, the hardest part to get cohesiveness in is the offensive line," Polian said. "So if we came with all the exotic blitzes that we see, which is basically coming out of the secondary, they couldn't pick it up and we're going to get quarterbacks hurt, and it's not much of a game, honestly. Nobody wants to see the quarterback sacked repeatedly."
- With replays, officials won't have to go under the hood or watch a tablet. Instead, the official will have an earpiece to communicate directly on the field with the replay official in real time. All of this is designed to help shorten game times. The hope is for games to be two and a half hours or less.
Birmingham is already bad enough breh
i will be checking this out
