The NFL made two rule changes that will impact the game in a significant way. The first, moving the ball up to the 35 yard line on kick-offs should not only help reduce injuries but should speed the game up a bit as there will be less kick-off returns which means that the officials won't have nearly as many opportunities to throw a flag for blocking in the back, which seems to occur on just about every punt and half of the kick-off returns. The other main benefit that I see is that it will force teams to actually earn a victory. I can't recall how many times I've seen a team score with just 1 minute left in the game thinking they have put the game away only to see the opposing team return the ball on the kickoff to the 40 yard line, throw a few short passes and then kick a 45 yard field game and snatch victory from what should be defeat. This change will make teams actually earn a last minute victory.
The other rule change will have the effect of slowing down the game as the league has decided in its "wisdom" to review every scoring play just to make score that they didn't get it wrong. So, when a running back makes that 1 yard waltz into the end zone and scores uncontested, I guess they'll have to review it to make sure that he did indeed score and not just possibly score. Well, as they say, the NFL giveth and the NFL taketh away.
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