Those fans who like watching football all the time now have multiple options. The recently reinaugurated XFL is nearing its playoffs, but there is another choice. This Saturday, March 15, the USFL began its second season in a row.
The NFL finished with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Philadelphia Eagles to win the Super Bowl. It has been two months since that game, although the sport continued having competitive matchups thanks to the alternative leagues.
Part of why people can get interested in either the XFL or the USFL is because they have some rule changes that are noteworthy. Maybe a traditional organization like the NFL prefers to stay with the basics, but the USFL decided to include modifications that the XFL also adopted to some degree.
USFL Rules vs NFL Rules
Kickoffs
The USFL already had a difference last year, although they even increased that gap five more yards. In the 2023 USFL season the ball will be placed in the 20-yard line for kickoffs. That is a big change compared to the 35-yard line set in the NFL. If a kick goes directly out of bounds, the opposing team will start the series at the 50-yard line.
“Kicking team members must line up within one yard behind the 20 and must be stationary when the ball is kicked. Receiving teams must have at least eight and no more than nine players lined up in a set-up zone between their 30- and 40-yard lines”, the USFL explains on their official site.
Fumbles in the end zone
Something that has bothered fans for a long time is this situation. In the NFL, if a player fumbles the ball through the opposite end zone it is considered a touchback. That means they lose the possession, so this rule change should be very welcome.
The USFL opted to maintain the ruling on fumbles to apply it as in any other part of the field. Now when a player fumbles through the other team’s end zone the ball will be spotted back in the place where he lost the football. This modification means the offense will retain the possession in that case.
Emergency quarterback
This is a topic that gained traction in the general opinion after the NFC Championship game. The expected matchup between the Eagles and the 49ers became boring early for San Francisco’s inability to stay healthy at quarterback. Brock Purdy got injured, and then backup QB Josh Johnson had to leave the field as well with a concussion. That left them without any signal-caller on the active roster.
The idea of suiting up a third quarterback to be on the sideline in case the first two go down wasn’t even discussed by the league this year. Although the USFL took advantage of this discussion to add it to their rule book as an emergency plan to keep the match competitive for the viewers.
“To ensure fairness, if the player is activated and enters the game anytime in the first three quarters, the first two quarterbacks cannot re-enter the game. If the QB enters in the fourth quarter, the original two quarterbacks may reenter”, they clarify.
Reviewing plays
Every scoring play is reviewed in both leagues to make sure nothing irregular happens, but there are some differences in how the whole thing works. In the NFL coaches start with two opportunities to challenge certain plays. For the USFL the limit is only one per game. However, the USFL Command Center has the authority to revert any ruling on the field without coaches having to challenge a call when a flagrant mistake was made by the referees.
The center in charge of those replays located in Los Angeles will have the final say in those reviews. They have more flexibility than in the NFL since in the USFL incorrect calls like roughing the passer, facemasks, or horsecollars, could be overruled.
Clock management
There is a 35-second play clock in the USFL while the NFL has 40. Although there is an even bigger gap on how the time is regulated. In the USFL the clock will keep running after incomplete passes in the entirety of the first and third quarters, and will do so until the five-minute mark in the second and fourth quarters. This is intended to shorten game lengths such as the MLB did.
“When a runner goes out of bounds, the clock will start on the ready-for-play except inside two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. The clock will remain stopped after a penalty inside two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. The clock will stop after a first down inside two minutes in the second and fourth quarters”, the site adds.
Scrimmage plays to recover possession
The biggest difference in the USFL is what happens after a team scores. In the NFL teams have to try an onside kick with a very low success-rate if they want to recover the ball. This league implemented last year a scenario that has been mentioned in the main competition, but hasn’t been discussed seriously. In the USFL a team can try to convert a 4th-and-12 play from their own 33-yard line to maintain possession. If they fail, the opposing side will take over at the dead ball spot.
Extra points
Teams have three options after scoring a touchdown. They can try a field goad snapped from the 15-yard line for one point, go for two points with a scrimmage play from the 2-yard line, or attempt a three-point conversion with a play from the 10-yard line. In case the defense is the one that scores on any of those plays they would only get two points regardless of the spot.
Forward passes
The NFL allows only one forward pass per play, although in the USFL offenses can complete two. In that situation, both surely must be thrown from behind the line of scrimmage. This is a change that gives play-callers more space to create surprising plays.
Overtime
It was an epic battle between fantastic quarterbacks what made the NFL add a tweak to their overtime rules. The league decided to grant both teams get at least one possession in the playoffs. That memorable 2021 divisional round between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen led to that modification.
In the USFL overtime rules are much different. A tied game will be decided by a shootout with each team trying three two-point conversions. “If the score is tied at the end of three possessions for each team, overtime advances to sudden death. Each team will get one possession and will continue until there is a winner”.
