6 Rule Changes the NFL Needs to Make After the 2011 Season

Former French prime minister George Clemenceau once said that war was too important to be left in the hands of the generals.

For NFL fans, the NFL is too important to be left in the hands of the competition committee.

It seems that after every season, the committee makes a group of rule changes based on the mood of the day rather than for the integrity of the game.

Because of football's intrinsic beauty, the game has survived this tinkering. Everything has a threshold, however, and the time is nigh for the committee to finally push the game over the precipice and into the valley of caricature.

The game we love is in jeopardy of resembling an unholy amalgamation of professional wrestling and flag football.

After the 2011 season, the owners and the competition committee need to implement some commonsense rule changes to our beloved game.

Return the Starting Point for Kickoffs to the 30-Yard Line

The NFL's rationale for moving kickoffs to the 35-yard line is that the occurrence of injuries will be reduced because more kickoffs will result in a touchback.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there are nearly 30 percent more touchbacks this year (46 percent) than at the same time last year (19 percent).

The move has nearly eliminated the kickoff return.

Fortunately, some coaches and players have figured out that starting at their own 15-yard line because of a poor run back is a small risk to take compared to the opportunity of lining up to kick an extra point because they've just returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown. 

That's why we're seeing players running back kickoffs that land five yards deep in the end zone.

However, that doesn't happen often.

Look, I understand that the NFL wants to reduce injuries, but this rule makes a mockery of the whole kickoff process. At this point, they might as well eliminate the kickoff entirely.

Let's just stop the nonsense and put it back to the 30-yard line so that we may have one of the most exciting plays in the game become a regularity again.

Allow More Referee Discretion for Roughing the Passer

What do Matt Casell, Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart all have in common? Aside from sharing the same first name, all three of them are done for the season due to injuries. 

Add Jason Campbell, Sam Bradford and Michael Vick to the list of quarterbacks that are done for the season or have missed some time.

Despite the NFL's nanny-state rules, quarterbacks are still getting injured.

As such, the NFL needs to start taking a realistic approach to roughing the passer by allowing the referee to make a judgement call rather than enforcing an automatic 15-yard penalty for a mere grazing of the helmet.

There is a big difference between a player doing a Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka crash landing on a quaterback's head and a defender bumping the helmet because he had his arms up to block a pass.

And I don't want to hear that it puts too much interpretation into the hands of the referees. That occurs now. Whereas Ben Roethlisberger requires an act of Congress to get a flag, Tom Brady gets one for merely having the defender just miss hitting his knee.

No Automatic First Down for Illegal Contact

Nothing is more aggravating than watching a quarterback throw an incomplete pass on third and 25, yet seeing his team get an automatic first down because of illegal contact by the defense six yards down field.

Why is that an automatic first down? 

Some say that it prevents the defense from constantly making contact with a receiver to prevent a big play.

Well, if that's the case, why isn't the offense penalized with a loss of down for holding because the offensive lineman prevented the pass rusher from getting a huge sack?

Make it either a 5- or 10-yard penalty depending of where it occurred and eliminate the automatic first down.

Change the 5-Yard Chuck Rule to the 10-Yard Chuck Rule

Why should I be impressed with Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady shattering all of the passing records?

Big deal.

Granted, you compare a man to his peers, but I shouldn't be giddy because the NFL has turned into the Arena Football League.

Bob Griese was the winning quarterback in Super Bowl VII with 11 pass attempts. In the today's NFL, most quarterbacks have 11 pass attempts in one drive.

Throwing for 3,000 yards in a season used to mean something. This season, there may be 10 quarterbacks who finish with over 4,000 yards passing.

You know that 3,000 yards means absolutely nothing nowadays because even Mark Sanchez can eclipse it.

Expand the chuck rule to 10-yards so that defensive backs will have more of an opportunity to disrupt the routes. This will prevent the game from being a glorified version of pitch and catch.

Until the NFL stops making it impossible for defenders to cover wide receivers, don't expect me to get excited about 6,000 yards passing in a season.

Make the Cut Block Illegal

No rule gives you a better idea of the pecking order in the NFL than the legality of the cut block. In other words, defensive linemen are at the bottom of that order.

Basically, a cut block is a legal block at the knees that occurs between the tackles and within three yards of the line of scrimmage.

For the life of me, I don't understand why this is a legal move. The NFL constantly professes that it cares about players' safety, yet it continues to allow this aberration to continue.

Ligaments and tendons weren't made to bear the weight of a 350-pound man buckling at the knees from a cut block by another 350-pound man.

And in my eyes, it's just as tragic seeing that 350-pound man confined to a wheelchair at 50 because of a cut block as it is seeing any other former player struggling from injuries occurred on the playing field. 

The NFL needs to get serious about this rule.

Have Two Levels of Pass Interference

On any given Sunday, you will see a weak-armed quarterback heaving the football 40 yards downfield.  As the ball quacks in the air, a wide receiver and cornerback both look up to find it. Contact is made on both sides. The distressed football lands harmlessly in the end zone. A yellow flag is tossed.

"Pass interference, defense," announces the official. "Foul occurred in the end zone. The ball will be placed at the 1-yard line.  First down!"

This is maddening. It's bad enough that pass interference is rarely called on the offense, but the fact that such an incident results in a 40-yard penalty is a cosmic injustice.

This should not be an all-or-nothing call.

There should be two levels of pass interference—one for blatant muggings of the wide receiver (spot of the foul) and another for mild contact made while jostling for position (15 yards). If the mild contact happens under 15 yards, then it is at the spot of the foul.

Again, this puts it in the hands of the official, but the pass interference call is subjective now. There is a two-tiered penalty for hitting the punter. There should be one for pass interference as well.