Mike McCarthy disses new touchback rules – and we agree

The game of football has been changing with each passing season and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has been vocal about his opposition to specific rule changes, especially those approved this week at the NFL’ s owners meetings.

Rules are changed, or at least considered for changes, based on a number of factors – safety, adding increased excitement to the game and even because of specific plays that have caused everyone to take notice.

But sometimes the league makes rules that just make us scratch our heads and say, ‘huh?’

Such has been the case this week and the new rules coming off the table.

Most in question, in my mind, and the one that brought some terse comments from McCarthy is the touchback rule that will now move the ball to the 25 yard line instead of the 20.

In other words, the league is rewarding teams for not playing with a five-yard bonus.

I remember a couple of decades ago when the league changed the rules to “protect” quarterbacks from injury by instituting the “in the grasp” rule (whatever happened to that, btw?).

Those quarterback-protecting rules would bring comments from fans about whether QBs should start wearing dresses.

Though a bit silly, those who made those statements weren’t far from the truth.

This new rule rewards teams for not returning kicks – a play that, while violent as hell, is also one of the most exciting in all of football … that is until the league moved the kick placement forward and encouraged placekickers to boot the ball through the uprights – what kind of excitement is that?

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Here’s what McCarthy told reporters this week about this new touchback rule:

"“Do you want the kicking game in the game or not in the game? If it’s in the game, let’s kick it and return it and let’s play the play. Moving (the kickoff) up to the 40, moving (touchbacks) out to the 25, I don’t know if those are the right answers.“I just don’t like it. Let’s not reward a decision not to compete with five extra yards. If we’re going to compete, let’s compete. If we’re not going to compete, let’s not compete. If we could try to make it that clean, it’d be better.”"

How can one not agree with McCarthy on this point?

In fact, I think the rules should take it back the other way as far as kickoffs are concerned.

In my mind, a team should be penalized significantly (15 yards or loss of a time out) if they DON’T bring the ball out on kickoffs. Move the kickoff back five yards (where it used to be), kick the damn ball and play football!

Not that the competition committee is going to be looking at me for suggestions to the game’s rules changes, but it’s pretty clear that the game, when it comes to rules like this, is taking huge strides backward.

Fans don’t buy tickets to games to watch players field the kick … they pay to watch players catch the ball and run and tackle. That’s what this game is all about.

Mike McCarthy is right when he says the NFL teams should compete or they shouldn’t compete.

Strap it up and let’s go …

In the meantime, here’s the full list of new rules that will be implemented next season:

1. By Competition Committee; Permanently moves the line of scrimmage for Try kicks to the defensive team’s 15-yard line, and allows the defense to return any missed Try.

2. By Competition Committee; Permits the offensive and defensive play callers on the coaching staffs to use the coach-to-player communication system regardless of whether they are on the field or in the coaches’ booth.

3. By Competition Committee; Makes all chop blocks illegal. “It is not one that has overwhelmed us in injury data, but it is not one we feel good about,” McKay said.

4. By Competition Committee; Disqualifies a player who is penalized twice in one game for certain types of unsportsmanlike conduct fouls. Amended to one-year only.

5. By Competition Committee; Changes the spot of the next snap after a touchback resulting from a free kick to the 25-yard line. Amended to one-year only.

6. By Competition Committee; Expands the horse collar rule to include when a defender grabs the jersey at the name plate or above and pulls a runner toward the ground.

7. By Competition Committee; Makes it a foul for delay of game when a team attempts to call a timeout when it is not permitted to do so

8. By Competition Committee; Eliminates the five-yard penalty for an eligible receiver illegally touching a forward pass after being out of bounds and re-establishing himself inbounds, and makes it a loss of down.

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9. By Competition Committee; Eliminates multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession.