Every offseason the NFL receives rule proposals from teams in hopes of improving the quality of play on the field. Now, the 2025 rule proposals are out and have been unveiled.
One rule in particular, submitted by the Detroit Lions with no advance warning, could have a massive impact on how games play out on the field. “Detroit wants the automatic first down to be eliminated from the rules against defensive holding and illegal contact,” reported Pro Football Talk.
These calls result in a five-yard penalty and an automatic first down at the moment, making it nearly impossible for defensive backs to successfully do their jobs. With the rule change, first downs would only be awarded if the penalty yardage advances the ball over the line to gain.
Fans reacted to the proposal on social media.
“It should match offensive holding, 10 yd penalty and no automatic 1st down. Or switch offensive holding to 5 yd penalty and loss of down to match. Idk but the defensive holding 5yd automatic 1st down never made sense to me,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Should be a spot foul, if it’s enough for the first great, if not replay the down. If it occurs in the end zone, 1 yard line replay the down,” added someone else.
“That’s a stupid proposal. Those are penalties with no idea on yards taken away from the offense,” added one fan.
It’ll be interesting to see if the proposal receives sufficient support across the league to pass.
