The 2020 XFL season will begin this weekend, and if you’re planning on tuning in to get your football fix during the NFL offseason, you may be a little confused by the league’s new rules. The XFL has made several major rule changes in an attempt to reduce overall game times and produce more highlight-reel plays.

Here’s a primer on all the major rule changes and differences from standard NFL rules.

SCORING RULES:

The NFL employs a version of a sudden death overtime period, while the XFL plans to make OT five rounds, where each round, an offense will get one play per team starting at the opponent’s five-yard line. Whoever has the most points after five rounds wins the contest. Overtime Format: Something else that differs between the rules of the XFL vs. NFL is the overtime format. With the NFL, there’s a 10-minute overtime block where both teams work to score as much as possible. However, with the XFL, both sides get five attempts to score from the five-yard line.

Point-after touchdown plays

In the XFL, there are no kicked extra points after touchdowns. Instead, teams will have an option to run a play to score either 1, 2 or 3 extra points, creating the possibility for a 9-point touchdown.A 1-point try will be run from the 2-yard line. A 2-point try will start at the 5-yard line, and a 3-point try will start at the 10-yard line.

GAME RULES:

Double-forward passes

Unlike in the NFL, the XFL will allow two forward passes on a play, provided that the first forward pass is caught behind the line of scrimmage.

What is a catch?

In the XFL, receivers only need to have one foot – or any other part of their body – contact the ground in bounds, instead of two feet in the NFL. Here is how the league defines what a catch is:

Secures control of a live ball in flight before the ball touches the ground.Touches the ground in bounds with any part of his body, and thenMaintains control of the ball long enough to enable him to perform an act common to the game, i.e., long enough to pitch or hand the ball, advance it, avoid or ward off an opponent, etc.

Kickoffs

The XFL designed its kicking rules in a way to increase the amount of returns we see compared to the NFL, and to make returns safer. Kickoffs are going to look very different.

On a kickoff, the kicker will kick the ball from their own 30-yard line, but every blocker will be lined up on the opposing team’s 35-yard line. The return team blockers will be lined up at their own 30, just five yards away.

Only the kicker and receiver can move before the ball is caught. All other blockers are permitted to move when the ball is caught, or three seconds after it hits the ground, if the ball isn’t caught.

Kicks that fly out of bounds, or kicks that fall short of the opposing 20-yard line, will result in the receiving team taking the ball at the kicking team’s 45-yard line.

Touchbacks will result in the receiving team starting at their own 35-yard line.

Teams will be required to inform an official if they plan to use an onside kick, meaning they cannot surprise the opposing team with an onside kick.

Punts

Punting rules have also been changed to entice coaches to go for it on fourth down.

All punts that result in touchbacks will be placed on the receiving team’s 35-yard line. Punts that go out of bounds will also be placed on the receiving team’s 35-yard line, or wherever the ball went out if that occurred before reaching the 35.

The punting team may not cross the line of scrimmage before the ball is punted, which should reduce the amount of fair catches significantly.

Challenges

There are no coaches challenges in the XFL. All reviews will be initiated by a replay official. Via the XFL, here is a list of reviewable plays:

(a) Plays involving possession. (b) Plays involving touching of either the ball or the ground. (c) Plays governed by the goal line. (d) Plays governed by the boundary lines. (e) Plays governed by the line of scrimmage. (f) Plays governed by the line to gain. (g) Number of players on the field at the snap. (h) Game administration. (1) Penalty enforcement. (2) Proper down. (3) Spot of a foul. (4) Status of the game clock. (i) Disqualification of a player. This list of reviewable plays is identical to those in the NFL prior to 2019.

OVERTIME FORMAT:

The XFL has devised a completely new format for overtime, which is comparable to a shootout in soccer.

In overtime, each team’s offense will have five attempts to complete a two-point conversion from the five-yard line, with each successful conversion being worth two points. The team with the most points at the end of the shootout is the winner. If one team clinches a win early, the unnecessary remaining rounds of the shootout will not be played.

There will be no coin toss to determine the order of overtime. The visiting team will always make the first two-point attempt.

Defenses cannot score in overtime possessions in the event of a turnover.

Penalties in overtime:

Penalties will be crucial in overtime plays. If the offensive team commits a pre-snap penalty, the ball will moved back and the play will be re-attempted. If the offense commits a post-snap penalty, the play is considered dead, and any score will not count.

If the defense commits a penalty pre-snap, the ball will be moved to the one-yard line. For a post-snap penalty, the offensive team will have the option to re-try the play from the one-yard line if they do not score. Any future penalties committed by the defense in any future round will result in an automatic score for the offense.

TIMING RULES:

Game clock:

The XFL will use a running clock outside of the final two minutes of the second quarter, and the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.

The final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters is what the XFL refers to as the “comeback period.” During these periods, plays that end out of bounds or with an incompletion will stop the clock until the next snap. The clock will be stopped after all other plays that end in bounds until the ball is spotted and five seconds have run off the play clock. In theory, this should give an offensive team leeway to run plays in the center of the field, as they will be able to rush back to the line of scrimmage without time coming off the clock.

The play clock is 25 seconds, and will begin when the ball is spotted following the previous play.

There will be one official on the field dedicated to spotting the ball, in an effort to speed up the process compared to the NFL.

Timeouts:

Each XFL team will receive two timeouts per half, compared to three per half for NFL teams.

The halftime break will be 10 minutes.

Penalties:

The XFL’s “illegal man downfield” rule has been rewritten to make it easier for officials to enforce.

No ineligible player shall be or have been more than three yards beyond the line of scrimmage until a passer throws a legal forward pass that crosses the line of scrimmage. A player is in violation of this rule if any part of his body is beyond the three-yard limit.

It’s pretty obvious right away that the XFL is not the NFL. From the rules to the players to the quality of play, no this is not the NFL, but the XFL isn’t trying to emulate the top football league in the world. However, I will say that this is closer to a professional football league than the corny league we saw in 2001. Professional football is all about entertainment and making money, of course, but the original XFL was trying to insert the wacky world of professional wrestling into football. That is not the case in the XFL 2020, though there are some differences to give the audience something to talk about. That’s especially true when it comes to the rules of the XFL vs the NFL.

There were some innovations in the original XFL that we saw the NFL adapt. The most notable of all is the overhead camera on the field, known as the sky cam. This was a revolutionary addition to football broadcasts at the time, but it’s so commonplace now that no one gives it much thought. That was a Vince McMahon idea that made its way over to the NFL. The XFL also introduced the idea of putting mics on players.

If I recall correctly, the dialogue on the field was transmitting to TV in real-time. The NFL doesn’t do that, but they do have certain players mic’d up that they’ll replay on NFL programming after the fact. The XFL is taking microphones a step further, with interviews taking place in-game on the sidelines. As far as other memorable additions the XFL had was a cheerleading camera in the locker room, which seemed something out of the WWE playbook, scripted and all. The “coin toss”, or scramble for the ball, in the original XFL was new too, but didn’t stick in the NFL or the rebirth of the XFL. For ten differences between the XFL 2020 and NFL jump below.

1. Kickoffs

This rule was implemented with safety in mind by the XFL. The NFL is going to be watching to see if concussions on kickoffs decreases in the XFL. If that’s the case, don’t be surprised if the NFL steals this kickoff format from Vince McMahon’s league. The kickoff team and return team line up 5 yards apart in the receiving team’s side of the field on the 35-yard line and 30-yard line, while the kicker is in his normal position. Nobody is permitted to move besides the kicker and returner until the ball is caught. This takes away high speed collisions with players running at full speed into one another like in the NFL. In turn, we should see less concussions, and the XFL is hoping for some bigger plays from this as well.

The first kickoff return touchdown in XFL history was a work of art. pic.twitter.com/ocyKXmjYPX

— XFL (@xfl2020) February 24, 2020

2. Play Clock

The play clock in the NFL is 40 seconds. This provides the team with a good chunk of time to get settled if they’re not going with a hurry-up offense. This also allows teams to burn off a lot of clock if they have a lead late in games. Running the ball and killing the clock is a good strategy with a healthy lead in the 4th quarter (are you listening, Kyle Shanahan?). However, the XFL wants to speed things up and prevent teams from having the luxury of sitting on leads by draining the play clock out. The clock is only 25 seconds in the XFL, so offenses must go faster to keep things moving. This should translate to keeping fans more interested instead of having to wait over 30 seconds for a new play in the NFL. Think of hurry-up offenses in college and how fast they operate. The XFL is hoping that play resembles something like that.

3. Double Forward Pass

We are familiar with a lateral and pass behind the line of scrimmage in the NFL. It’s commonly used with the quarterback lateraling the ball to a running back or wide receiver, and then they pull the ball back for a pass. A flea flicker is perfectly legal in the NFL, too. What can’t happen is if the ball is passed forward, then the receiver cannot pass the ball again. It has to be a lateral first before another pass can be made, even if it’s behind the line scrimmage.

If the receiver catches the ball behind the line of scrimmage, and executes a pass, this is a perfectly legal play in the XFL. In other words, there can be two forward passes made behind the line of scrimmage in the XFL. There will be no debates if a quarterback threw a ball back instead of forward to a receiver in this league. Things should get pretty interesting, and offensive coordinators can get creative, with this wrinkle on offense.

? DOUBLE FORWARD PASS ?

The first time in XFL history we've seen a team take advantage of this rule.pic.twitter.com/iZK0UDp7ss

— Sporting News (@sportingnews) February 15, 2020

4. Point(s) After Touchdown

For the longest time, the NFL PAT was automatic for kickers. All they needed to do was hit a 20-yard field for a point. That was moved back to a 33-yard field goal in 2015 to make things a bit more difficult and interesting. In the XFL, they’ve removed kickers from the equation altogether. Offenses must stay on the field and go for either a 1-point, 2-point, or 3-point play. It’s simple, if you want to try for 1-point, a play will be run from the 2-yard line. For teams that want to attempt 2 points, they will have to go from the 5-yard line. A 3-point play will have to be converted from the 10-yard line. With this in place, teams will be capable of pulling off some big comebacks in the XFL.

5. Running Game Clock

A running game clock on incomplete passes is not new to professional football. This is a play taken out of the Arena Football playbook. In the NFL, the clock will stop on incomplete passes. Conversely, the XFL will keep the clock running to speed the game up. Also keep in mind that the clock won’t pause when runners go out of bounds. However, with under 2 minutes remaining in the game, then the clock will stop on incompletions.

6. Overtime Rules

The NFL evolved ever so slightly when it came to overtime. They got rid of sudden death with a field goal in 2012, allowing both teams to get a chance to score if a field goal is the first points on the board. However, if a touchdown is scored by a team, then the game is done. A portion of fans have been bargaining for both teams getting an opportunity with the ball regardless if a touchdown is scored on the opening drive. There hasn’t been any movement in that regard yet, but the XFL is attempting to make those fans happy.

The XFL is utilizing a five-round “shootout” format resembling something from the NHL. Each team gets five plays from the 5-yard line to score a touchdown. If each team is tied after their five opportunities, then it will go to sudden death overtime. This provides a fast overtime that is decided quickly, and both teams will have a chance with the ball in their hands. Out of all the differences between the XFL and NFL, this might be my favorite of the bunch.

7. Comeback Period (2-minute warning)

Teams will not be able to run the clock out under the 2-minute warning. Along with the 25-second play clock, which hurts teams with leads in the 4th quarter, the comeback period is another nuisance that teams with leads must look out for. When a team runs the ball with under 2 minutes remaining in the 2nd and 4th quarter, the game clock will stop until the ball has been spotted and 5 seconds has run off the play clock. If a team has no timeouts remaining and they’re behind in the game, then this rule helps them out a lot. Of course, in the NFL, timeouts are the only way to stop the clock on running plays after the 2-minute warning hits. The XFL is attempting to find some games that have some comeback magic in them with this addition.

8. Player Interviews

The media is unable to talk to players while the game is taking place in the NFL. Sideline reporters are able to get updates, and talk to coaches at halftime, but there aren’t in-game interviews taking place in the NFL. The XFL, which is one of the closest things to the old league, is trying to bring fans closer to the game. Players are not off limits and will be approached during the game. That includes microphones on players and coaches, which will be available to fans live during broadcasts. With regards to the NFL, they have mic’d up players and coaches, but isn’t relayed to fans until employees and producers have time to go through the footage for NFL programming after the game.

9. Video Replay Review Transparency

This has to do with how the XFL chooses to be transparent and allow viewers to eavesdrop on the review process for plays. Fans watching games will have the opportunity to listen to the conversation between the official on the field and the booth. There is also a camera positioned inside the review booth for fans to watch the process. This is much better than the NFL. We get no feedback during the review process. Networks have hired former officials to go through it with fans, but they’re shunned from listening in on the booth as well.

For all of the criticism that has been levied against NFL officiating lately, they’d likely benefit from allowing fans to hear what’s going on during a review. That said, I’m not too confident in the NFL adopting this perspective.

Xfl Rules Vs Nfl Rules 2018

10. Offensive Coordinator Microphones

The XFL loves to try and insert fans into the game as much as possible, hence player interviews during the game and mics on officials and in the review booth. Along with those innovations, the XFL wants fans to hear what plays are being called into the huddle. Communication between coaches and the quarterback is fair game in the XFL. That’s a big no-no in the NFL. Listening in to play calls is strictly forbidden and would result in heavy fines and loss of draft picks.

In the XFL, everyone, including fans are allowed to hear the offensive coordinator and his play call. Not only is this more immersive for fans, but this is also going to provide a headache for coaching staffs. This adds another thing to worry about when preparing for a game. It’s imperative that names for plays are changed up week-to-week. So, this does provide an interesting angle and more work for offensive coordinators as they prepare for their next opponent.

In Conclusion

There are other differences between the NFL and XFL that I didn’t go over in the top ten. However, I think you will be most interested in watching out for those differences. For instance, each team has only two timeouts in a half compared to three in the NFL. Also, receivers only need one foot down instead of two. That follows the same rules as college football, which is intended to result in more offense.

Xfl Vs Nfl Rule Differences

I like a lot of these rules and quirks that the XFL has introduced. Notably, the overtime should be entertaining, and there isn’t going to be any complaining about getting a chance for the offense to touch the ball. The transparency during video replay reviews is a nice touch as well. All in all, I think the XFL did a great job of not getting too corny, though still finding ways to differentiate themselves from the NFL.