The N.F.L. Made Some Changes Since the Last Time You Watched

Practice squads used to consist of 10 players with less than two seasons of accrued N.F.L. experience. They were expanded to 16 players in 2020, six of whom could be veterans, so teams could stash some reinforcements on the practice squad in case of quarantines. Those rules were carried over for 2021, and teams are taking full advantage of them, particularly when it comes to emergency quarterbacks. No team wants to start an undrafted rookie wide receiver at quarterback because of a virus outbreak, as the Denver Broncos did last season.

Seeing a 12-year veteran like New England Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer relegated to the practice squad is like discovering that an old college chum with an M.B.A. is delivering for DoorDash and driving for Lyft to make ends meet. Totally normal for the 2020s, in other words.

The Return of Holding

The N.F.L. wisely instructed officials to be less stringent about offensive holding in 2020, lest games be marred by endless flags after the Covid-canceled preseason. Per Football Outsiders Almanac, offensive penalties dipped from 3.6 per game in 2018 and 2019 to 2.6 per game last year, with holding penalties dropping from 725 (1.41 per team per game) in 2019 to 430 (0.84) in 2020. Not coincidentally, scoring increased to an all-time high of 24.8 points per game, and the games themselves were noticeably crisp and enjoyable.

The N.F.L. must have thought everyone was having too much fun (see: the taunting rules), because the 2021 preseason holding rate bolted back up to 1.58 penalties per team per game. That rate may have been inflated by fourth-quarter, fourth-stringer shenanigans, but it is still a discouraging trend. Then again, a rash of holding penalties, like a swarm of cicadas, may be an annoying sign that nature is healing itself.

All these changes to the N.F.L. may be off-putting as the regular season begins. Rest assured, however, that in a few years it will seem totally natural to place a bet, purchase your favorite cornerback’s -3 jersey and stream the game from a single cellphone app while Goodell and the N.F.L.’s corporate partners watch over us from orbit.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/sports/nfl-rule-changes.html