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When the Alliance of American Football launched this year, few thought it would be as popular as it has been so far. So much so that some NFL teams are taking notice. One such team, our own Denver Broncos, has seen the way the AAF handles onside kicks and liked what they saw.
If the team that just scored trails by 17 or more points or if the team that just scored trails by any amount with fewer than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, that team can choose to try to convert a fourth-and-12 play from its own 28. If the team gains 12 or more yards in that one play, it keeps possession. If it doesn’t, the other team takes possession.
That is an interesting concept. One that the Broncos clearly used to submit their own rule change for 2019 that is very similar.
Hey look, @TheAAF is already influencing the @NFL.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) March 9, 2019
The Broncos are proposing a rule change that would give teams the option of forgoing an onside kick. Instead, the team that just scored would put the ball on their own 35-yard-line and need to gain 15 yards to keep the ball.
It would be a fourth down and 15, instead of 12, and from their own 35-yard line, instead of the 28. It would be a radical change to the current NFL rules for onside kicks, which probably makes it a unlikely to pass vote during league meetings.
This wasn’t the only rule change proposed by the Broncos. The other one is far more likely to succeed in my opinion is a rule that requires all fourth down and goal spots, as well as, all extra point or two-point conversion attempts to be subject to automatic review.
2019 rules change proposals submitted by clubs were shared with all teams today. Here’s a look at what was proposed. For the full summary, visit: https://t.co/LBmaH8VSPC pic.twitter.com/ujKu0zYFFN
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) March 9, 2019
The automatic review on those plays makes complete sense, since a bad call on a scoring play can be overturned during the automatic review then so should a bad call on a play that was ruled a non-scoring play when it was.
What do you think of these proposed rule changes?