Responding to the USFL's Rules Announcement

The spring football league unveiled its unconventional regulations for overtime, extra points, kickoffs and more

Author:
Ralph Ventre
Publish date:
Mar 23, 2022 9:31 PM EDT

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen would have touched the ball in overtime had the United States Football League (USFL) rules been in effect for the NFL’s 2021 AFC divisional round classic in Kansas City.

With the relaunched spring league’s first games set to kick off in fewer than four weeks, the USFL 2.0 revealed Wednesday the rules that will be used.

Using its social media platforms, the league led off its announcement by featuring an intriguing overtime format that likely drew inspiration from the National Hockey League’s shootout tie-breaker.

If teams are tied following regulation play, they will face off in an offensive “shootout,” during which each team will have three chances to convert from the 2-yard line against the opposing defense.

Each successful “shootout” scoring attempt will result in two points for the offense and the team with the most points following three rounds will be declared the winner. If the teams are tied following the three-round shootout, they will move to sudden death two-point attempts.

The USFL’s overtime announcement comes during a time when the NFL overtime format has been a hot topic of conversation in the aftermath of the 2021 playoffs and will be discussed in depth at NFL meetings next week in Florida.

The primary spark came when the Bills and Chiefs combined for three touchdowns and a field goal in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter during their divisional round matchup.

After Buffalo took a 36-33 lead on Gabriel Davis’ fourth touchdown reception of the game with 13 seconds remaining, the Chiefs improbably moved into position to kick a game-tying field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

The Bills’ offense, which led the AFC in scoring during the regular season, never had a chance to respond. Kansas City won the coin toss and marched 75 yards on a game-ending drive that was capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce.

Under the USFL’s overtime format, viewers would have seen the Bills and Chiefs, who combined for 974 yards of offense in that game, each run at least three plays from scrimmage apiece.

Three years earlier, the Chiefs were burned in their own building by the overtime rules. The New England Patriots won the overtime coin toss and marched down the field to win the 2018 AFC Championship Game on a walk-off touchdown run by Rex Burkhead.

After unveiling its overtime format via Twitter, the USFL highlighted a difference from the NFL in its timing rules. In USFL games, the clock will stop when a first down is achieved during the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters.

“The original USFL stopped the clock on first downs within the final two minutes of each half and, given this rule is used in the college game, it's more of a tweak and something that can be easily transitioned to without any trouble,” said Paul Dottino, a member of the WFAN/New York Giants Radio Network.

Dottino, a long-time radio personality in the New York market, was on the beat for the New Jersey Generals of the original USFL from 1983-1985.

The timing rule “creates more offensive plays during the final two minutes of each half” and “adds offense and excitement before halftime and at the end of the game,” according to the USFL’s official announcement.

Excitement is a must for the USFL’s viability as a professional football product. The league’s success will primarily hinge upon the amount of viewership its games are able to attract on television and streaming platforms.

“The USFL is going to succeed or fail based upon how well it can capitalize off the expansion of legalized sports gambling in America,” said Inside The League founder Neil Stratton, a published author who established his football consulting firm in 2002.

“Gambling is a form of entertainment that can heighten interest in the game for both casual and diehard football fans. By implementing certain on-field rules, the USFL can add excitement to its product and make it more appealing for bettors. The more excitement the USFL can generate, the more viewers the games will attract.”

The USFL unveiled a creative list of three options for extra points. The touchdown-scoring team can choose to go for a one-point, two-point or three-point attempt.

Teams can elect to kick a one-point PAT with the ball being snapped from the 15-yard line. Two points can be earned by converting an offensive play from the 2-yard line. A three-point option is also available with the scoring team having one chance to reach the end zone from the 10-yard line.

“The NCAA had been using the two-point conversion for decades and it was a part of the old AFL, too,” said Dottino. "It was only natural that the original USFL implemented the rule as one of the significant ways to differentiate itself from the NFL when the new league started in 1983. It worked so well that, after trying to distance itself from the spring league, the NFL finally adopted the rule in 1994.”

The new USFL proudly touted the idea that a team trailing by nine points can even the game’s score with a touchdown and a subsequently successful three-point attempt.

“An 18-point lead is still a two-possession game,” the USFL said in its press release.

Despite approving of the two-point conversion, Dottino suggested that the USFL’s three-point try may take things a little too far.

“The second edition of the XFL had a three-point conversion from the 10-yard line and I always thought offering ‘field-goal value’ for an extra point is too much of a reward. It should not be treated as a potential substitute for a scoring drive,” said Dottino.

Among the other notable USFL rules is a permissible double forward pass. The league is allowing two forward passes to be thrown on the same play as long as both passes are attempted from behind the line of scrimmage.

The USFL has also tweaked the kickoff with the kicking team required to tee off from its own 25-yard line. No player on the kicking team can line up further back than one yard and the receiving team must have at least eight players in the “set-up zone,” which ranges from its own 35-yard to 45-yard lines.

In addition to the traditional onside kick option, a scoring team can elect to keep the ball with a fourth-and-12 situation from its own 33-yard line.

The new USFL begins competition on April 16 with a prime-time matchup between the New Jersey Generals and Birmingham Stallions. Three more games follow on April 17.

A total of eight teams will battle during a 10-week regular season with no bye weeks.