If You Could Change One NFL Rule, Which One Would It Be?

Call it pre-cabin fever, but I am already itching for a distraction from this snowstorm...and so far we have zero inches of snow on the ground.

I will be running with a laundry list of questions like this for the next few months to help keep our site from deteriorating into a never-ending debate on whether or not Danny Wuerffel gave us a better chance of winning under Spurrier. (We all know Trung Canidate was the real x-factor.)

As for the question du jour, I will bat leadoff. I'll take the low-hanging fruit and go with the extra point rule. I would eliminate the point after kick altogether. Instead of just giving teams the extra point after touchdowns automatically or allowing them to go for two points at the risk of losing the free extra (1) point if they fail, here is what I would propose:

Touchdown = Six points, NO AUTOMATIC EXTRA POINT

One-point attempt from scrimmage from the 2.5 yard-line

Two-point attempt from scrimmage from the 7.5 yard-line

Three-point attempt from scrimmage from the 12.5 yard-line

This would create additional plays from scrimmage that players could be injured on, so I would ELIMINATE all kickoffs after scores. The only kickoffs would be at the beginning of each half. Punts would remain as they are today. The ball would be placed at the 20-yard line for the opposing team to begin their subsequent possession. In my mind, if you subject players to greater injury risk, you should at least try to counterbalance by reducing risk somewhere else.

I suppose you could argue that I have not thought everything through, but you could say that about anything I write about here that doesn't involve television, movies, Mila Kunis or ice cream. I would look forward to the decisions made after every score at different parts of the game. I think offensive coordinators could get creative with formations and plays from these different spots on the field. The reason I spaced them the way I did was because for the two- and three-point attempts, defensive off-sides and/or defensive holding penalties would materially change the field, while preserving the point value the offensive team originally intended. Defensive pass interference in the end zone would not result in the ball being placed at the one-yard line. It would result in a successful conversion.

I look forward to reading your rule change suggestions.