SF 49ers: 3 executive orders for NFL rule changes
By Robert Smith
Every NFL fan has had their heart broken by what they perceive as a bad call by a referee that seemingly costs his or her team the game. Not only has it happened to every fan, it most likely happened multiple times during the course of a 16-game schedule.
The SF 49ers, like the other 31 teams, have had their fair share of calls go for or against them resulting in dramatic wins and tough losses.
Quick references include their 39-38 comeback victory against the NY Giants back in 2003. The Niners had come back after being down by 24 points in the second half, but a non-pass interference call on a botched game-winning field goal on the final play by New York was certainty controversial.
After a bad snap, kicker Matt Allen attempted a pass down by the goal line to guard Rich Seubert, who had reported as an eligible receiver on the play. SF 49ers defensive end Chike Okeafor interfered with him as time ran out. No foul was called on the play. And while the Giants had an illegal man downfield, the penalties would have offset each other and there would have been a replay from the Niners 23-yard line for a second potential game-winning field by New York.
On the flip side, San Francisco was robbed of the No. 1 playoff seed in the 2013 NFC playoffs earlier in the regular season. Playing on the road at the 7-2 New Orleans Saints in Week 10, the 6-2 Niners were clinging to a three-point lead with just over three minutes left in regulation.
On a 3rd-and-2 play just inside San Francisco territory, Saints quarterback Drew Brees dropped back to pass and was dropped to the ground by linebacker Ahmad Brooks. Brees fumbled, the SF 49ers got the recovery, and the game was more or less over at that point. However, Brooks was called for unnecessary roughness because he lunged at the quarterback and hit Brees above the shoulders.
The penalty gave the ball back to the Saints, who tied it on a field goal. They went on to win in overtime 23-20.
The loss was the last of the regular season for the Niners, who went on to win their final six games, but it cost them home-field advantage, as the Seattle Seahawks claimed it. In the end, the Niners lost on Seattle’s home field 23-17, and the Seahawks then trounced the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl XLVIII.
San Francisco fans were left wondering what could have been.
So, to have a little fun and in keeping with the inauguration of a new President, and the Presidential executive orders new administrations enact, we’ll looks at three NFL rules we’d like to use our hypothetical executive powers to change.