Are you ready? -- Mon Sep 1 16:24:39 PDT 2008
From: JeffTo: mnf@doobie.com
Subject: It's Monday...
...and the 2008/2009 season starts in three days. Three Days!
Ladies and gentlemen, it's the first of September. In the last 48 hours, over 700 players were cut by the 32 NFL teams, to bring every team down to a 53-man roster. A handful of the recently-cut guys will play on practice squads, and we'll probably hear about a few later in the season as they fill in for injured players, but most of them are headed back home to sell hot tubs, or nail roofs, or deliver mail -- their pigskin dreams denied. As of yesterday, there are now just under 1700 people in the US who can call themselves "Professional Football Player", and every single one of them is playing for an undefeated team.
They're ready. Are you?
First, it's time to pull out your rulebooks. This year, the NFL's rule committee has changed a few things about the game. Some of these things, you'll likely notice immediately, others are a little more subtle...
1. The Phil Dawson rule. This year, field goals are reviewable, under most circumstances. Clearly, this one comes out of the Ravens/Browns game last season, where Dawson kicked a game-tying field goal that was incorrectly called by the officials. Fortunately, they reviewed it and reversed the call, forcing overtime. Unfortunately, that was against the rules (though they did consult with the NFL officiating office, which granted an exemption at the time). Now, the rules have officially been fixed.
2. No more force outs. You know the call: the receiver goes up in the air for the ball, makes a great catch in the air, and the defender hits him on the way down, causing him to land out-of-bounds. Last year, if the referee believed that the receiver was going to land in-bounds, it was considered a catch. This year, the receiver must land with both feet in-bounds, period. This is going to have a major impact on some games, because it favors the defense, and will disproportionately affect long passing plays... the kind of plays that shift momentum and change games.
3. Long live the fumblerooski! Last year, if the quarterback was in his normal position, and the center snapped the ball through the QB's legs, the play was dead, and a 5 yard false start penalty was called. This happened during last year's Bears/Eagles game. This year, a snap through the QB's legs is considered to be a live ball (a fumble, more or less). This means that in something similar to the offensive "I" formation, the ball can be snapped through the quarterback's legs directly to the tailback. For teams that have an option pass in their playbook and a sufficiently versatile halfback, this opens up a world of novelty plays.
4. The Motorola subsidy. The quarterback will no longer be the only player on the field with a speaker in his helmet. This year, the league allows two defensive players to wear similarly wired helmets (they allow the coaching staff to talk to the player for a limited amount of time between plays). Only one of these defensive players is allowed on the field at a time. This rule is going to cause some problems in special teams play, and I think it's going to end up getting changed again in the next two or three years.
5. Bye-bye 5-yard incidental facemask. The NFL finally got rid of this touch foul. If you yank on someone's facemask or twist their head around, you'll still get a 15-yard personal foul. But touch the mask without grabbing, pulling, yanking, twisting or tugging? Play On!
6. All mishandled handoffs are fumbles. Previously, a "forward handoff" (where the ball is moving forward when it's handed to another player) was considered a forward pass, so if it was mishandled and dropped, this resulted in an incomplete pass (and the play and clock stops). A forward handoff is still an illegal procedure, and will draw a 5 yard penalty, but now, the mishandled ball is still live and either team can recover it.
7. "We defer". Whoa. The NFL is adopting a NCAA rule for the coin-toss. Last year, in the NFL, the team that won the coin toss could choose to kick or receive the ball to start the game. The team that lost the coin toss got to choose to kick or receive at the start of the second half. In practice, the coin toss winner never chooses to kick the ball, because they'd likely end up kicking the ball away to start both halves. This year, there's a pretty significant change. The team that wins the toss can now choose to defer their choice. They can then choose to receive the ball at the start of the SECOND half... after they've made their halftime adjustments. You're going to be seeing this a whole lot, especially when teams with strong defenses are playing at home.
That's it for the changes. Now, remember those 1700 players? How do you think the NFL explains the new rules to these, their newest employees, in this modern age. Right... corporate training video. That shit even starts with a message from the boss.
Second. It's time for list/membership maintenance. This message is the beginning of that (any addresses that are bouncing will get deleted). But, if you want to subscribe with a different address, or invite a friend to join the list, please go to this page: http://fat.doobie.com/mailman/listinfo/mnf . As always, the archives are available at the recently redesigned http://doobie.com/monday/
Third, it's time for you to start preparing your boss and your co-workers. This Thursday, the NFL season will start in New York, when the Giants host the Redskins. Kickoff will be at 4:00 in the afternoon out here on the left coast. Then, next Monday, we've got a doubleheader, that starts at 4:00, and won't likely end before 10:00. This will require both conditioning and careful preparation, and you might want to start practicing.
T minus three days.
Are. You. Ready???