Although everyone’s got their eyes peeled on the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament, the NFL takes a backseat to nobody. Just like last week, lots has happened in the NFL this week. For starters, the league has decided to change instant replay…again. Also, Cincinnati is finally parting ways with one of the most colorful players in their history. Check out our weekly NFL updates! And be sure to keep checking the latest Super Bowl 54 odds with these new weekly updates.
Instant Replay Adds PI and Bengals Say Bye to Burfict
Competition Committee Comes Up with New Pass Interference Replay Rules…
The NFL Competition Committee came up with two proposals affecting pass interference and replay rules. The first proposal adds pass interference flags to the list of reviewable plays. Any pass interference fouls called could be reviewed.
The second proposal calls for reviews of both pass interference fouls as well as unnecessary hits against a defenseless receiver and flags for roughing the passer. In the second scenario, the men upstairs could overturn defenseless hits against a receiver and roughing the passer calls. That makes the game more fair, for sure.
…But, How Much Does it Really Matter?
Here’s the problem: although it’s a good idea for replay to have the ability to overturn pass interference calls, it wouldn’t have mattered in regards to the Saints’ situation in the NFC Championship.
In that game, no flag had been thrown and both proposals would only give the refs in the booth a chance to overturn calls where a flag had been thrown. In other words, if the referees miss a blatant pass interference call, no review. So, yeah, it might help the game, but it only helps in instances where a flag was thrown first, which means that neither proposal would have had an effect on what happened to New Orleans.
Bengals Say, “Bye-Bye Burfict”, Raiders Pick Him Up
The Cincinnati Bengals finally handed walking papers to one of the most controversial players in the NFL. Cincinnati cut Vontaze Burfict and, wouldn’t you know it? The Oakland Raiders immediately scooped him up for a one-year contract worth up to $5 million.
When Burfict played, he could be a devastating, fearsome, linebacker. But he also had plenty of issues while at Cincinnati, making him a possibly tough player for Jon Gruden to fold into the Raiders’ culture.
Burfict has been a dirty player at times. That won’t go over well in Oakland. Things could get really difficult for Burfict if Gruden sees he’s not willing to change his style of play.<?p>
Colts Pull Off a Coup
NFL Free Agency and the NFL Draft have allowed smart organization led teams to turn things around in the matter of one or two seasons instead of a single season. The Colts, who made the playoffs last season, signed Justin Houston this past week. How big of a signing was it?
It’s such a huge signing that Indianapolis must be considered not only the favorites to win the deep AFC South, but also a second choice to win the AFC after the Patriots. Last offseason, Indianapolis rebuilt the offensive line. This offseason they’ve already added a fierce pass rusher.
Oh, yes, the Colts also have that guy named Andrew Luck playing quarterback. Indianapolis just became a serious Super Bowl contender.
We’ll shift our attention next week to April’s NFL Draft. Until then, enjoy the NCAA Tournament while keeping an eye on the NFL!
