Passing touchdowns so far in the 2024 National Football League season are down a significant amount over the last four years. In both 2020 and 2021, there were 110 passing touchdowns through the first two weeks. Since then, it's gone down to 105 in 2022, 86 in 2023 and only 69 this season. That is a decrease of 37.3%.
It's gotten so significant that legendary NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has come out and said that the NFL should consider banning Cover 2.
We know the NFL isn't going to ban cover-2. It's a simple coverage that has been run forever. The idea of Cover 2 is to keep things in front of you and try to prevent big plays from happening.
That is the main reason why Kiper wants to outlaw Cover 2. He wants the deep shots back in the NFL game.
"Well, I grew up with the best of the National Football League, 60s, 70s into the 80s. You're talking about deep shots, right the go route, the nine route, post. Terry Bradshaw in a Super Bowl hitting John Stallworth. You see LeRoy Irvin diving right, just off his finger. There's the receiver that laid it out there, right at the receiver in stride. 65 yard touchdown. It's a beautiful thing to watch. That's what I want to see brought back to the National Football League. Okay, check down kings, bubble screen sensations, boring football. Game manager, I get it, but I want to see those deep shots. That's what the NFL was built on. I grew up with John Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Ken Stabler, Daryl, Lamonica. You know, you talk about quarterbacks. Your name, that's it, with just Brett Ford, when he was doing what he did, Bert Jones with Baltimore Colts. You think about those quarterbacks who would throw the ball down the field? I said what Bradshaw did was Stallworth and (Lynn) Swann, Roger Staubach. That's what I want to see brought back. Well, you can't do that, right? We got five yard rule with the quarterbacks, right? The melt rule right now with the push thing was hurt. You got to be a yard back now. So they'll tell me you can't have no safeties closer to the line of scrimmage than they are. I was in games where I'm thinking, hey, too high. They're out now to space too I couldn't even find us, and they're playing with nine guys, right? What are the other two? I couldn't even though they're part of damn play. I'm telling you, we got to change this thing, and we got to have hey you warn them, they come up. Hey guys, you got to get up a little bit, right? You're too far back. More no safeties but you got to figure out competition committee, somebody Daniel, somebody's got to figure out what that depth is but it's too far back right now. The NFL has been ruined by these two high safety."
The excitement of the game isn't what it once was, but is it actually a problem? Considering the NFL is making more money now than it ever has before, it certainly doesn't seem like it. The easiest way right now to prevent Cover 2 looks is to establish the run and make the defense cover every inch of the field.
However, there are ways to make the game more fun and entertaining without changing the fundamental concepts of the game. Here are some rule changes that can make a difference.
Bringing the CFL motion to the league
If you have ever watched the Canadian Football League, you know it's a different brand of football. They have 12 players on the field, said field is significantly longer and wider and they only have three downs instead of four. With all of those differences, the biggest one is arguably how they use motion.
At the snap, nobody in the NFL can move forward. In the CFL, they can have an unlimited amount of players moving forward at the snap. One of the biggest underlying reasons of the lack of deep shots is due to offensive line play being at one of its lowest points in recent memory. Having players get a moving start would help speed plays up. However, you can't give the offense that kind of advantage without giving the defense something in return.
Eliminate Illegal Contact
This would be the concession the offense would have to make. If you get to have players moving forward at the snap, defenders should be allowed to be more physical. Cornerback is the toughest position on the NFL field outside of quarterback and making the game a tad easier for them should be a consideration, especially if we want more deep shots.
Gone are the days of Courtland Finnegan and Andre Johnson trying to destroy each other on the field. There aren't CB/WR rivalries anymore, mainly because the cornerbacks can't really do a whole lot to the wide receivers. Balance it out on both sides and let's see how creative and explosive things can get.
Modify the amount of players on the line of scrimmage at the snap
This is something that has been a point of emphasis this season. Offensive tackles were by definition lining up too far back and are being forced up this season. With the wealth of talent at edge rusher right now, that has been an issue for offenses. If you bring in the CFL motion rules, this one should be changed as well.
Right now, seven players need to be lined up on the line of scrimmage for a legal play. With everyone allowed to motion forward, a change would be necessary. I would change that to five players and allow the offensive guards to have their helmet align with the center's backside and the tackles need to align with the guards backside. It would allow the tackles to be back just a bit further to deal with the edge rushers and theoretically improve offensive line play.
Expand the hash marks
I can't take credit for this one. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah brought it up first.
The college hash marks do allow for some wild spacing plays. It makes it more difficult to defend the entire field when things are spaced out in such an expanded way. The major difference with the NFL and CFB is this: the athletes are significantly better and more balanced in the pros.
This could still be an interesting way to make the game more exciting, especially for the offense. Having an extra 10 or more yards to work with on one side of the field when lined up on one hash mark would make things significantly more interesting.
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