The XFL looking to eliminate the kneel down with new clock rule

[MikeMitchell]

Wow! I think I was suggesting that for the final minute (and at one point suggested that for the whole game). At 5-6 seconds per play, that is around 20+ plays in the final 2 minutes of each half! I wonder if there will be a mercy rule...and I mean that for the audience...for the 4th quarter during a blowout.

Also, that may or may not prevent kneel downs as it is still a very safe play.

That was my thought precisely. It seems that this is yet another example of where the stated goal of the XFL wanting a shorter real-time game and the mechanisms are diametrically opposed to each other.

If shortening the game were the goal, I'd instead seriously consider allowing a complete waiver of the last minute or so if the clock can be run off with kneels. It may not be all that popular among "purists" (then again, purists probably don't care for outlaw leagues like the XFL) but the pro forma nature of the whole kneeling process is kind of a waste and people leave the stadium anyway.

That’s why there’s testing. The games are being completed in 2 and a half hours or less with more plays. The league’s still not done testing.

[Tank55]

I hope they put this one through the wringer at the next Spring League. Maximizing plays per real life minutes is awesome, but making it the end all be all? Putting it ahead of the two-minute drill? Seems like a classic case of metric fixation. There's all this emphasis on "less stall, more ball," but they're undercutting the most high-pressure, fast paced portion of the game. It's a little incoherent.

[MikeMitchell]

I hope they put this one through the wringer at the next Spring League. Maximizing plays per real life minutes is awesome, but making it the end all be all? Putting it ahead of the two-minute drill? Seems like a classic case of metric fixation. There's all this emphasis on "less stall, more ball," but they're undercutting the most high-pressure, fast paced portion of the game. It's a little incoherent.

I agree. This next phase of testing is crucial for the league. If they were prepared and settled in with all the rules. They wouldn’t be proceeding with what looks like is going to be 4 days of testing at the end of the month. The 28th through 31st. They have to test and re-test everything before they lock everything in. Having everyone involved in the process is huge. I just wish that some of us were also included. Kind of like a Fan Advisory Committee. I’d love to have Winston Moss yell at me for suggesting no coin tosses.

[nick1091]

Lots of interesting discussion in here so far (first time poster, btw.) Just a few thoughts of mine below;

-If the play clock is reduced to 25 seconds, a 3 down kneeldown would only account for 1:15 of clock (give or take the few seconds of actually snapping the ball and taking the knee.)

-Conceptually I'm really not down with a concept that is fundamentally different in the very last portion of the game than the vast majority of it. I think what makes comebacks more exciting is that it's essentially defying the odds, as you're against not just the other team, but the clock as well. If you're a team who is up to the extent that these rules would impact you, you have earned the degree of advantage that the rules currently provide.

-I think someone else mentioned it, but the down side of allowing the additional plays to be run is that it would likely lengthen blowouts where the game has gotten out of hand. I'd expect to see starters in some circumstances get pulled rather than risk injury (or tip your hand from a play calling perspective for future games) for a game that is more or less in the bag.

That being said I wouldn't mind some small alterations (only allowing the clock to run on a positive yardage gain is an interesting one), but on its face it seems like a large alteration for something that doesn't appear to be an issue.

[MikeMitchell]

It all depends on what you think a blowout is. An 18 point lead in the XFL means, means that your are only up by two scores.

I am all for anything that eliminates the extra point, which the original XFL did as well, and anything that eliminates a meaningless play like the kneel down.

How they get to it, will be interesting.

[Firecop]

I love two ideas in this thread - delay of game = aotomatic loss of down and any thing dropped or missed behind the LOS is live.