I have always been a fan of good defense in the NFL. Defense is always harder to play because you are reacting to what the offensive player does and trying to make up for that split second. That and big hits, I really love big, legal, hard hits. The NFL's trend of rule changes seems to me like they all give the advantage to the QB. I know player safety is paramount, and I totally agree with that but I think Rodger Goodell is on pace to put flags on the QB before 2020. As much as I enoy watching Tom Brady breaking his passing yardage record every other year, I think it is time for a rule change that actually benefits the defense.


I bring up Tom Brady because it is the stupid Tom Brady rule ( AKA Tuck Rule) that made me think of this particular rule change. Last Sunday vs the Rams, the Seahawks had a sack fumble that was returned for a TD called back due to the tuck rule. Bradford was hit hard enough to force him to drop the ball. While he was getting folded up like a lawn chair his arm appeared to be moving forward ever so slightly while the rest of his body was thrown backwards. It was ruled a fumble on the field because it obviously he was not trying to throw, but when you use the super slow motion replay the arm was moving slightly forward. I hate that rule! I have always hated that rule!! I have hated that rule ever since it was first called to bail out Tom Brady in the playoffs.

I got to thinking instead of just getting rid of the Tuck rule why not take it one step further. What if all passes that didn't cross the line of scrimmage or land out of bounds become live balls? Forwards or backwards or sideways. All passes that land in the backfield are live balls. Dropped or incomplete screens, balls that are batted down by linemen, and yes even QBs that were hit as they threw. Would that totally ruin the game or make it more of a level playing field again? I think teams would adjust pretty quickly to it and turnovers wouldn't jump up by that much. I just want to see a DE who has been battling a LT all game and finally gets to the ball rewarded. I don't think the QB should ever get bailed out in that situation. Is it a bad idea? Do you guys have any better ideas for rule changes?