The correlation between the Detroit Lions and NFL rule changes

On Tuesday it was announced that  NFL owners voted to change extra point rules.

While it may not seem like a big deal and will probably change nothing in the long run, it still puts worries in to hearts of some Detroit Lions fans. The Lions have seemingly been the NFL’s tester of new rules for years, in a sadly comedic fashion. Chances are if you haven’t heard of the rule, you’ll know about it as soon as it happens to the Lions.

While it makes my blood boil, I want to have a little fun and look back at how NFL rule changes have affected the Detroit Lions.

The Calvin Johnson Rule

This is the rule that started it all. I’ve been a football fan all my life and up until that point, I had never heard of “process of the catch” I’m willing to bet that most fans hadn’t either. These days it’s common place, but at the time it was highway robbery of the worst kind. To me it’s still a catch, Dez Bryant on the other hand, did not catch that ball. Sorry Cowboys fans.

This ones on Jim Schwartz. Plain and simple, as a head coach you have to know the rules. The fans on the other hand, had know idea what was going on. Justin Forsett is clearly down. All Schwartz had to do was wait it out. It was obviously going to be overturned. We all know how things turned out for the Lions that day. They went on to lose in overtime after playing their way back. Games like that were characteristic of the Lions 2012 season.

Sorry to bring this up again. I know it still hurts a little bit. There is not yet a rule in place that requires NFL officials to review questionable penalties. If another major game is decided by a penalty ever again, I would expect this rule to become a reality. In my opinion, this is a rule that should have been in place before this incident. It’s not something that needs to be reviewed after every “questionable call” But it should definitely go into effect any time two officials disagree. It’s much better than the old-fashioned “what did you see” huddle that officials do now.

Ok so maybe it’s not that bad. The one constant in all of this is that the Lions tend to lose after these occurrences. Now Lions fans can only hope that the team doesn’t lose a game on these new extra point rules.

What do you think? Were there any that I missed? Leave your comments below and be sure to follow us on Twitter @SideLionReport and @Lionmike26