Goodell looking to make another change

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, may the Lord bless him and keep him — far from us — just can’t leave well enough alone.

He’s been itching to expand the NFL to include teams overseas for years. Now he’s looking to tweak the regular season schedule once again.

The league expanded the schedule to 17 games, beginning in 2021.

Now Goodell is looking to add an 18^th regular season game with a 19-week schedule.

The move would require the preseason to be reduced to just two games. First, it would have to be approved by the players with the details hammered out in collective bargaining.

It’s still too soon to tell if the players would want to do it or not.

But since its being bandied about, why not do it right once and for all? Here’s how:

A 20-Game Schedule

Since Goodell is locked in on 20 games combined, let’s just do away with the preseason altogether.

Make July a four-week training camp with the season opening the first weekend of August.

The 20 games, with two bye weeks, in the 2025 season would conclude on the Dec. 27-28 weekend. The schedule formula would also be tweaked.

Each team would play its division rivals four times, twice at home and twice on the road.

The other eight games would be against teams from one division from each of the conferences on a rotating basis.

Additionally, the wild card round would be jettisoned. Only the eight division winners would make it to the postseason.

With just the divisional round, and the conference championship games, the Super Bowl would then be played in January again as it always should be.

Yes, that would mean a 13-4 Vikings team would have missed the playoffs this year. Considering the egg they laid on Monday night, that argument fails.

Besides, I’ve always said if you’re not able to win your own division, then you have no business playing for the conference or league championship.

That goes for college football too, which would have spared us a two non-conference winners title game that 96% of the nation has no interest in watching.

Neither Goodell’s plan, nor mine, would seem to favor the Dallas Cowboys, however. Dallas is a combined 17-24 in Week 17 and Week 18 contests.

So maybe we should put both plans on hold for now. At least until the Cowboys have a GM that can build a team that finishes strong.

While We’re Changing Things

Since we’re looking to tweak a few things, here are a few rule changes I’d like to see the NFL implement.

First off, if the replay booth is going to just flat out ignore what its seeing, then let’s just ditch instant replay altogether.

Last week we saw a scoop-and-score fumble return to tie a playoff game overturned because the quarterback dropped the ball, flicking it forward ever-so-slightly about six inches above the ground.

That was not a valid attempt at a forward pass.

However, it was so ruled and a huge momentum boost was taken away from the team that eventually lost the game.

We also saw a kick returner recover his own fumble from two different angles. Yet, the ruling on the field that the kicking team recovered the ball was allowed to stand.

And don’t even get me started on the whole “defining what is a catch” nonsense. That will remain a sore subject in these parts for decades.

So, if the system clearly will not make the correct calls every time, why waste time on it?

Trust me, the good old days of living with the refs goofs were so much better than the system we currently have.

Unfair Enforcement

We also need to revise how penalties are enforced.

Because as of now, it’s another huge advantage the offense has over the defense.

Here’s the prime example. It’s third and 26 and the defense is flagged for illegal contact 10 yards down the field.

The five-yard penalty would still leave the offense 21 yards short.

Yet, because of the flag, they are gifted a first down.

Adding insult to injury, an offensive penalty during a play, if accepted, always allows the offense a do-over, be it five, 10, or 15 yards further away from the line to gain.

Why doesn’t the offense lose the down and the yardage, just like the defense does?

Holding on first and 10? Congratulations, you now have a second and 20.

A Little Accountability

Finally, running backs and quarterbacks are getting away with murder out there and the league needs to put a stop to it.

How many times have we seen a running back lower his head as a defender comes in for the tackle, creating a helmet-to-helmet collision?

The defender’s original target was the midsection or even the legs. But the move by the ball carrier changes the target at the last second.

By then, the defender is committed, and he gets the flag for unnecessary roughness while the offense gets a cheap first down.

The quarterbacks are even worse. And yes, I’m looking at you, Patrick Mahomes.

These late slides and faking going out of bounds need to be halted by the officials.

The one rule change that would put an end to it would be this: Once past the line of scrimmage, the quarterback becomes another regular ball carrier.

He’s fair game to be hit. That starts happening, and then you’ll see a lot less of the running back playing quarterback nonsense.

Yes, I’m looking right at you, Jalen Hurts.

A Simple Solution

Better still, if the league really wants to cut down on head injuries and concussions, there is a very simple way to do it.

Remove the face masks and visors from the helmets.

A lot of the old players from way back when have been saying this for a very long time. Once those face masks are gone, no one is going to be putting their head in harm’s way.

Just a thought, Mr. Commissioner, just a thought.