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XFL Looking To Eliminate Kneel Down With New Clock Rule

The XFL’s vision to reimagine football is underway and a number of modifications have been made to the beautiful game already with league commissioner Oliver Luck championing the changes. One of the changes that have created divided opinions among fans is the XFL’s plan to eliminate the kneel down with the new clock rule.

Thomas Bassinger of the Tampa Bay Times talked about the kneel down in his article about the differences between the XFL and NFL. Under “The Comeback Period”, Bassinger wrote about the kneel down and commissioner Luck explanation for its elimination.

“In the NFL, the game clock stops with two minutes left in the second quarter, two minutes left in the fourth quarter, after an incomplete pass, when a player runs out of bounds or when a team calls a timeout. In the XFL, the clock will stop after every play during the final two minutes of each half.”

“We didn’t want a team to be able to have three downs where they just kneel it and burn off 1:40,” Luck said. “A kneel-down — as a quarterback I loved it (he played for the Houston Oilers from 1982 to 1986) — but it’s also a nothing play.”

He calls the final two minutes “The Comeback Period” because we should see a bunch more drives than we’re used to. The goal, of course, is to not only increase the number of games that are decided in the final minutes but also hold the audience’s attention longer, no matter the actual probability of a comeback.

After all, late-game comebacks are rarer than we think. Over the past 10 seasons in the NFL, teams that had a lead after three quarters went on to win more than 80 percent of the time.

Fans have reacted to the rule change on the xflboard and there have been divided opinions. A user going by the name Tank55 argued the rule change is altering one of football’s greatest feature and said the XFL is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Another user MikeMitchell was in support of the elimination of the kneel down and said: “it’s a meaningless play that goes against the competitive nature of games.” According to MikeMitchell, the rule change will increase offensive plays and keeps teams alive in games.

Some of XFL new rules will be implemented in test matches to see how they fair and the elimination of the kneel down will undoubtedly be tried out. Is the elimination of the kneel down one of the reimagations of football you support? Let us know your opinion in the comment section.


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10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. R. Poliseo

    July 10, 2019 at 9:43 am

    what if one team is significantly ahead in the score, why would you then give the ball to the other team and have the clock stop after every play. Does’nt that unnecessarily prolong the game, which defeats the purpose of reducing the overall time played? Solution would be to only use the new rule (play stoppage after every play) if a team is no more than two touchdowns ahead.

    • Johnny Lucas

      July 10, 2019 at 11:06 pm

      You’re right about prolonging the game when the league has emphasized a faster paced game to be completed in 2.5 hours. Hard to do that when the clock keeps stopping near the end of the game. Your two touchdown deficit idea is interesting, but that’s too far with rule making. They could easily ban taking a knee with a 5 or 10 yard penalty.

  2. Jonathan Flora

    July 10, 2019 at 11:50 am

    “Comeback Period” LOVE this idea!

  3. mt_turk40

    July 10, 2019 at 12:41 pm

    It’s a great idea. “Victory formation” has, imo, been one of the worst things about the NFL for years.

  4. Gene

    July 10, 2019 at 1:37 pm

    I love this idea it’s not over till it’s over

  5. Brian

    July 25, 2019 at 2:29 am

    I like this idea! just keep playing until the final whistle. The other thing I’d like to see the XFL do differently is limit yards penalized to 15 yards. If there’s a PI penalty 40 yards down the field, giving the offense 15 yards is giving them the first down anyway. I think it’s too much to move a team 40 yards down the field on what is sometimes an iffy call anyway

    • The One

      September 1, 2019 at 6:27 pm

      I hate Victory formation. I would like to see this rule played out to see how it affects the game. I also love the 15 yard max penalty. Now that’s a great idea.

  6. Thomas Towles

    October 1, 2019 at 1:58 pm

    Average football play takes about 5 seconds. That is 24 plays in the “Comeback Period.” With the rest of the game literally being a running clock how can one say this will slow down the game? The XFL is attempting to make the changes the NFL doesn’t have the kahunas to make! BRAVO!

  7. XFLGodddddddd

    December 5, 2019 at 1:34 pm

    what if a team is up a touchdown and just intercepted the ball with a minute left on the clock?

    They have to keep playing and chance the risk of a turbo instead of taking the victory formation and winning the game? This make zero sense

  8. Nikkilas Jackson

    December 27, 2019 at 10:16 am

    I’m in favor of getting rid of the QB kneel. I think its a waste. In the words of Herm Edwards “you play to win the game.”

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