The NFL competition committee will examine reducing the width of the goal post uprights this offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. Each year the league looks at current rules, comes up with potential changes and votes on whether or not they pass. The goal post issue won’t be the only one talked about though, as the league will also be reviewing the “Calvin Johnson Rule,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, and will look into expanding the replay system, as reported by Tim Twentyman of the Detroit Lions website.
NFL will review Calvin Johnson rule, narrow goal posts
The league is still considering reducing the width of the goal post and will review the “Calvin Johnson Rule” this offseason.
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
The goal post discussion has been around for awhile, and is especially relevant now given that the league tested out the change in the Pro Bowl. It did not go well. Adam Vinatieri, in his third trip to the Pro Bowl, kicked for Team Irvin and made just one of his three extra point attempts. He also missed a 38-yard field goal with the narrower uprights.
Vinatieri said that no kicker would be happy with the new rules, as it makes their job much more difficult. The narrowing is two feet on either side and, while kickers would obviously likely improve their ratio beyond what Vinatieri was able to accomplish on little practice, it could definitely wind up being an issue. Whatever the case, Rapoport’s tweet says the NFL considers the Pro Bowl test a positive.
The "Calvin Johnson Rule" can more accurately be called the "Dez Bryant Rule" at this point. Bryant had a huge reception overturned in the Divisional round of the playoffs against the Green Bay Packers, and just about everybody was confused as to why. It was determined that Bryant hadn't made a "football move," and therefore didn't have possession of the ball when he went down and the ball was knocked loose.
That was despite him clearly holding the ball without issue and taking multiple steps. At the end of the day, the referees on the field called the play correctly as per the NFL rulebook. The problem is just about everybody believes that the rule is, in a word, stupid. It’d be a big surprise, at this point, if the rule is not changed to some degree sooner rather than later.
In addition to those potential changes, the Lions made an official proposal to the competition committee to expand on instant replay. It’s not surprising given that the Lions were definitely hurt by a no-call on a potential pass interference in a playoff game against the Cowboys. That’s just one instance though, and just about everybody can remember at least one big no-call in each game this season. It happens a lot.
Following the regular season, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said that there’s no reason the technology we have today isn’t being used to help eliminate human error from the game. It’s hard to argue with him, and there’s very little reason to not make this kind of change, given coaches will likely still have the same limited number of challenges.
NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed that the Lions made this request on Thursday, and said that it’s something “that’s going to be on the agenda this offseason.”
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