Steelers Are One Of The Teams Targeted By The NFL's Proposed Rule Change

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the 31 other organizations around the league are preparing for NFL's league meetings in just under a week. This is an important, but overlooked time of the offseason as those from around the league will meet to discuss any problems and potential changes. The Competition Committee usually proposes some rule changes for owners and teams to consider, and those will be deliberated and voted on during meetings. Rules proposed by teams are also considered, one of which this season being that franchises are allowed to trade draft picks that are still five years out.

The Competition Committee has come up with a rule proposal that would affect special teams, as most of these rule proposals do year in and year out. The rule being proposed would essentially eliminate the incentive for the kicking team to boot the ball out of bounds when kicking off from the 50-yard line -- which would give the receiving team the ball at the 25-yard line.

Pittsburgh took advantage of this during the 2025 season when taking on the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis committed a penalty, which placed the ball at the 50 for the Steelers to kick it off back to the Colts. Rather than risking a good return or kicking it into the end zone for a touchback that would give the opposing offense the ball at the 35-yard line, former Steelers special teams coordinator, Danny Smith told Chris Boswell to kick the ball out of bounds. The current rule states that this would put the ball 25 yards from where the ball was kicked, which was the best outcome for the Steelers.

The Colts were actually the team that first exposed this little loop hole as the team took advantage of it when its starting kicker was hurt in 2025. He was hit late on an extra point attempt, which put the ball at the 50 for the kickoff. This was the first instance of a team intentionally kicking the ball out of bounds.

Smith received a ton of credit for taking advantage of this rule in 2025, but the Colts had done it just four weeks before him. Indianapolis also happened to be the team that the Steelers were playing. The NFL will look to pass this rule at the league meetings, but the rule actually won't change much. The new rule proposal essentially just cleans up the play, and eliminates the penalty portion from the scenario.

The new, proposed rule states that any kickoff from the 50-yard line that is downed in the end zone or kicked out of the end zone would result in a touchback. However, the change is that a touchback when the ball is kicked from the 50 would only come out to the 20-yard line, not the 35. This is actually a better scenario for the kicking team as the group would gain another five yards in their favor. This rule doesn't change too much, but it does eliminate the referee having to throw a flag, which does slow down the game and frustrate fans.

Steelers Will Look For New Loopholes Under New Special Teams Coordinator

Smith moved on from the Steelers with all the turnover that was happening amongst the coaching staff back in January, and he is now acting in the same role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pittsburgh hired Danny Crossman to replace Smith, and he will now be in charge of finding some sort of loop hole in the rules for Pittsburgh to take advantage of. 

Three of the five proposed playing rules changes have to do with special teams, so hopefully he can find something.

What do you think about this potential rule change from the NFL? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!

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