CFL rule changes take centre stage this week

It took a while for the CFL rule changes to be felt, but they certainly were on display this week.

On Saturday night, the Toronto Argonauts were denied a rouge (single point) for a missed field goal on the final play of the game which would have tied their game against Hamilton.

The next night the Winnipeg Blue Bombers avoided a scare from the winless Ottawa Redblacks, going to an overtime two-point conversion shootout after the first two mini-games resulted in two field goals each.

Let’s tackle the alternating two-point converts first. I’m someone who is absolutely fine with a tie in the regular season. In my opinion, if two teams tie after a 60-minute game, don’t even go to overtime, just call it a draw and move on.

But leagues will never take that route nowadays. And if we’re going to get gimmick ways to end a game anyway, let’s find a winner regardless.

The format was fun to watch, but it was clear the officials and broadcast were confused about the order, (the teams and players appeared to know exactly what to do). That was a very CFL moment.

I’d suggest a slight tweak. Instead of teams going back and forth on a choice to go first or second, I’d rather just see a normal shootout, where the teams just go back and forth. We’re a hockey country, and that’s how hockey shootouts work.

The more controversial moment happened in Hamilton, where the Tiger-Cats got an undeserved victory in many people’s eyes.

As a certified rouge-lover, who is still mourning the loss, I had no problem with this result. The most important role the rouge has in Canadian football is the same role no yards plays on punt plays. To encourage returns. One only has to look at Winnipeg’s win over Toronto a couple weeks ago, which was flipped by a missed field goal return for a touchdown in one of the most exciting plays of the seasons.

I’ve long maintained that a ball landing out the back of the end zone with no chance of a return should not be rewarded in any way. If it bounces in play and then out of bounds, then give the point.

Toronto’s kick went completely out the back of the end zone, so wouldn’t have counted in my preferred rule set as well.

CFL fans need to focus on ensuring that returns are still a normal part of the game and continue to fight against the completely reckless field changes that could happen next year which would nearly completely eliminate missed field goal returns and not worry about rouge tweaks that are easily fixed.