New CFL rules discussion

I tried to say that they can’t justify the claim that we are kicking significantly more FGs now than ever before and that is what is turning fans off. The increase is marginal but that is not how some viewers perceive it. Crash’s claim that we’ve set back to back record numbers (without context) is what i’m talking about. It happens almost daily by people with agendas at every level of the sport from fans to admin. Salesman.

Hype and the production package makes all the difference. NFL has first rate sales and Hollywood production. The game is secondary. CFL relies on it’s fans to create the hype.

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I don’t have an agenda. I can only speak for myself.

I find the ping pong back and forth FG battles boring. I find the NFL very entertaining. When I was a kid I was an anti NFL pro CFL guy, then I became a big fan of both. Now I love both but find myself more enthralled with the NFL and the CFL is still there but not at the level as before.

Maybe the NFL has become more entertaining and the CFL has stayed the same. I can’t put my finger on it. But I know one thing for sure, the endless ping pong FG back and forth has become boring for me.

Get the ball on the 40, or 45, or whatever…. 4 plays later, FG. Other team gets it, rinse and repeat.

I’m in my early 40s and I find the CFL way more “meh” than I did in my 20s. I have friends my age that have fallen off completely. Maybe it’s just that the NFL has surpassed it with its marketing, increased passing and scoring, etc. And maybe the CFL has just stayed the same. I doubt it, but maybe.

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I’ve heard something similar from “Hitemhard”. I believe he was a former college QB and he said that the CFL plays were easier to predict. He could tell where the QB was going to throw based on what the defence was showing. He found that he had a harder time predicting where the ball was going when he was watching the NFL and therefore it was more enjoyable for him.

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I feel the exact same way but I’ll always love the Argos. It’s in my blood. But I do think the NFL becoming more of a passing league has taken some shine off the CFL. It used to be that the CFL was passing and the only exciting league but we can’t say that anymore. Our artificial finishes may be more dramatic but the days of boring 3 runs and a cloud of dust is long gone from the NFL.

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Average number of TDs per team 2025

NFL = 2.5375

CFL = 2.6481

Some teams in the NFL are 50% higher than the average. I’ve long maitained that because it is a 32 team league that the broadcasters can cherry pick games and that viewers will also cherry pick games. More TDs in the CFL despite perceptions. In case you are wondering, the median number in the NFL is close to two TDs per game per team. 14 points a game is not exactly lighting it up.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/touchdowns-per-game

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I posted all of these stats on the old site. I’m very aware of them.

The rules which promote scoring lead to more FGs. As many as 6-7 per game.

To be clear I don’t cherry pick NFL games to watch, I essentially watch all of them.

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I buy the logic that making FGs harder and TDs slightly easier is probably more marketable overall.

Will it make for a drastic improvement in engagement? Time will tell.

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I think it will, my concern is what has been pointed out previously here that the coaches are just so conservative. Will teams be going for it on 3rd down at their opponent’s 40 or are they still going to be conservative and punt it to pin them deep. If that’s the case then all these long FG are going to turn into starting positions within the 10 and we’ll definitely see scoring down.

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That’s a fair point

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If you watch all of them, well then they should put you on some of those commercials during games instead of all the other BS awful commercials! Maybe they should show you in boxing gloves too!

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I’ll take crash in a commercial over cars4kids any day

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The hope has to be that since they won’t try a long FG out of fear for a return they will likely go for 3rd and 3 on the 34 yd line.

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Oh yes that’s clearly the hope. But I think CFL coaches have proven to be pretty unnecessarily conservative with respect to going for it, analytics be damned. So the concern is that this conservative nature will result in them opting to pin their opponents deep and playing the field position game rather than being more aggressive and going for it.

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All very true and wel’ll need to see how it plays out. The other side is if they try the corner and the kick gets inside the goal line there will no longer be a point scored unless a receiving play touches it which I think is unlikely for a corner attempt.

The ball then comes out to the 40 so if it’s 3rd and 3 from the 34 for example, they’re better off going for it.

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Yeah for sure. I think the analytics should already favour it just as crash has outlined it. But that’s where I think the math and the reality will differ, in the coaches’ minds.

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If its me punting from the 30 i’ll just use a couple of onside players, sky the punt and force the defense to play the ball even if it’s landing on the goal line. There is a way around anything.

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I think we might see more QB kicks too where they force the S to field it which I’d be super down for.

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If you are going to try all those
You might as well just dribble kick 1 yrd for a 1st down

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That’s a way around it for sure. But if the ball crosses the goal line and stays there the kicking team can get a point but the ball goes to the 40.

3rd and short it might be better off going for it.

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Yah for sure but the kicking team can also get a TD if the D dicks around and plays chickenshit.

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