NFL rules are sometimes bad and are affecting the Seahawks

The Seahawks get penalized a lot. But sometimes the officiating that happens in their games is just…confusing. The NFL needs some fixing of the rules.

The Seahawks had four calls go against them last Sunday versus the Lions that shouldn’t have happened. Seattle in the Pete Carroll era has been one of the most penalized teams in the NFL. Most of these penalties are valid. Some aren’t.

Nick Vannett’s catch. Oh, but wait…

But forget just the penalties. The rules themselves are just weird. And on one call against tight end Nick Vannett, the Seahawks got both a penalty and a strange rule go against them.

Seattle had the ball fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. Russell Wilson dropped back and then hit Vannett in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Or not. Vannett was called for coming back into the field of play and catching the ball. Not only did Vannett’s touchdown not count but the Seahawks lost the down because of the penalty and were forced to turn the ball over to Detroit.

The problem was, a Lions defender had pushed Vannett out of bounds; Vannett did not run out on his own. When you think about it, defensive coordinators have to be thinking, “When it’s something-and-goal and the other team drops back to pass, we should just push all their receivers out of bounds.” Why not?

My issue with the rule is that a player covering kickoffs can’t go out of bounds and then come back onto the field and make a tackle. Unless he is pushed out and then he is free to do whatever. Why shouldn’t it work the same with Vannett’s catch?

The penalty on Vannett is just another stupid NFL rule that is strange to a person who has watched professional football for decades. To a new fan it must be even more confusing. That new fan might just say, “Well, this is dumb. I am going to watch soccer.” And the NFL wonders why it can’t grow the sport in Europe.

David Moore’s no-catch. Oh but wait…

The officials must not have liked the reversal on Moore‘s fantastic sidelines catch against Detroit because the next four calls went against Seattle. Or maybe that was just a coincidence. (Probably not.) Either way, the NFL after 482 years in business (I made that number up) is still trying to figure out the simplest things, like what a catch is.

Moore went over a Lions defender and made a catch and then hit the ground and the ground forced the ball out. The officials called the catch incomplete. After review, the call was reversed and Moore was credited with a catch.

Last year, the ground could cause an incompletion. This year, it can’t. The ground has filed an appeal but Roger Goodell hasn’t listened to it yet. (He is spending too much time suspending players for multiple games for non-violent things easily while still having difficulty trying to figure out how many games a player misses when he physically harms someone else.)

Again, this references a new viewer. As a person who has seen a lot of football games, I know when someone has caught a ball. I just wait for the NFL to sometimes tell me not to believe my own eyes. But for the new viewer, they must have no idea what is happening.

I still love the game. Every Seahawks game is a little like Christmas to me. I just wish the NFL would stop overthinking the rules so much. Sometimes common sense is the best and easiest way to go.