Tom Brady was back in the headlines on Thursday when the NFL announced changes to the rule book. Most of the headlines had to do with Brady’s VERY hard stance against relaxing jersey numbers, but there was another rule change that specifically involved Brady as well.
The rule change was essentially the NFL closing a loophole, one that was utilized by Tom Brady during the 2020-21 season. Playing against the Los Angeles Rams, an odd situation where Brady broke the rules actually ended up helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Faced with a 3rd-and-10, Brady attempted to make a pass downfield, only to have it knocked straight back to him by Rams’ linebacker Terrell Lewis. Brady alertly caught the ball, and went to make another pass.
The 8-yard completion to Mike Evans obviously drew a flag… but it but Sean McVay in an awkward position.
Do the Rams accept the penalty, which would result in a redo 3rd Down attempt from 15-yards out, or do they decline the penalty and set the Bucs up with a 4th-and-2? No matter which they pick, it won’t end up as good as a 4th-and-15.
The Rams decided to chance it and declined the penalty, and Arians decided to punt the ball away anyway. Despite there being no harm done, the Rams proposed a rule change in which the team that attempts a 2nd forward pass in one play would lose a down as well.
It’s similar to how Intentional Grounding carries a loss of down.
While the rule change came as the result of a Brady play, we doubt we’ll serious pushback from the legendary quarterback the way he’s pushed back on jersey number relaxation. Brady processes things fast, but we doubt that even he was able to calculate the situation of a 2nd forward pass resulting in a short 4th down attempt.
(H/T CBS Sports)
