Competition Committee -- Down by contact:

[70Chip]

I heard Mike Pereira, the NFL's head of officials, say that the down by contact rule would be given serious reconsideration in the offseason. I like the rule as it is because:

Down by contact would be much less of an issue if the officials would simply learn not to blow the whistle unless they are ABSOLUTELY sure they saw the ball-carrier down. I would say they should treat every situation like a fumble, but then the fumbling team is forced to use unnecessary challenges.

Regarding PI, I believe that it should be, like college, a 15 yard penalty. If they don't make that change they should make two other changes. First, they need to be more willing to call offensive pass interference. Second, they should award the ball to the defense on those plays. If they award the receiver the catch on defensive PI, they should award the defender the ball on offensive PI.

Finally, I hate the way the illegal contact rule has been enforced over the last two seasons. It's almost become like a "get out of jail free" card that teams are awarded once or twice a game on third and long. And when they call it one team, you know the other team is going to get one at some point. A sure sign of a rule the officials think is horsesh#*.