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DNSB · 09-27-2025, 10:29 PM

This post is likely only of interest to Canadians and other fans of the CFL.

For reasons that may be entirely valid, the new CFL commissioner has decided to make major changes in the rules of the game and in the size and layout of the field over the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

One of the 2026 change is to do with a time honoured Canadian football tradition called the rouge. For those who have never watched, Canadian football has a single point awarded for a punt, kickoff or missed field goal that goes into the end zone and is not returned into the field of play. No rouge will be awarded on a missed field goal nor if the ball goes through the end zone either in the air or rolling on the ground from a punt or kickoff. If a player catches the ball and either takes a knee or is tackled in the end zone on a punt or kickoff, the rouge will still be awarded. This does remove such sights as a team that is 2nd down and 5 at the 18 yard line with 2 seconds left in a tied game lining up in punt formation and simply punting the ball through the end zone for the winning point. Not exactly a common occurrence which I've seen twice in the years I have watched the CFL and both times the field goal kickers were injured. Normally, the field goal kicker would be kicking for 3 points.

The other two changes for the 2026 season are:

(1) Putting the team benches on opposite sides of the field. The majority of fields are already configured that way so no big deal.

(2) Changing the play clock from 20 seconds to 35 seconds. The new clock will be started as soon as the previous play is whistled dead unlike the current 20 second play clock which is started manually at the official's signal. I can visualize all the officials and players heading down the field at a run to get in position after an 80 yard pass and run play.

Now for the horrifying part for CFL fans...

In 2027, the current 110 yard by 65 yard CFL field will be shortened to 100 yards with the width unchanged. The currently 20 yard deep end zones will be changed to 15 yards deep and the goal posts will be moved to the back of the end zone instead of the current position at the goal line. The argument for the 15 yard end zones is that current CFL field have end zones that are not consistent. One field has an end zone that has curved corners due to the track around the field. The argument is that this will lead to 10% more end zone completions (i.e. touchdowns) per year though the statistics for the past 7 years suggest that is a bit optimistic. That this is also going to result in fewer field goals since a 35 yard field goal is now going to a a 50 yard field goal likely resulting in fewer field goal attempts and a lot more punts out of bounds inside the 5 yard line does not seem to be seen as potentially affecting scoring.

Thankfully a suggestion that the 5 yard restraining zone on a punt be changed to a suggestion similar to the NFL free catch rule was not accepted. Basically, the CFL rule is that no opposing player who was not onside when the ball was punted is allowed to be within 5 yards of the punt returner before the ball is caught. This does make punt returns a lot more exciting than the NFL's free catch or tracking the ball down and stopping it (again, IMNSHO).

Ahh... that feels so much better.

09-27-2025, 10:29 PM	#38512
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 47,575 Karma: 172313954 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	This post is likely only of interest to Canadians and other fans of the CFL. For reasons that may be entirely valid, the new CFL commissioner has decided to make major changes in the rules of the game and in the size and layout of the field over the 2026 and 2027 seasons. One of the 2026 change is to do with a time honoured Canadian football tradition called the rouge. For those who have never watched, Canadian football has a single point awarded for a punt, kickoff or missed field goal that goes into the end zone and is not returned into the field of play. No rouge will be awarded on a missed field goal nor if the ball goes through the end zone either in the air or rolling on the ground from a punt or kickoff. If a player catches the ball and either takes a knee or is tackled in the end zone on a punt or kickoff, the rouge will still be awarded. This does remove such sights as a team that is 2nd down and 5 at the 18 yard line with 2 seconds left in a tied game lining up in punt formation and simply punting the ball through the end zone for the winning point. Not exactly a common occurrence which I've seen twice in the years I have watched the CFL and both times the field goal kickers were injured. Normally, the field goal kicker would be kicking for 3 points. The other two changes for the 2026 season are: (1) Putting the team benches on opposite sides of the field. The majority of fields are already configured that way so no big deal. (2) Changing the play clock from 20 seconds to 35 seconds. The new clock will be started as soon as the previous play is whistled dead unlike the current 20 second play clock which is started manually at the official's signal. I can visualize all the officials and players heading down the field at a run to get in position after an 80 yard pass and run play. Now for the horrifying part for CFL fans... In 2027, the current 110 yard by 65 yard CFL field will be shortened to 100 yards with the width unchanged. The currently 20 yard deep end zones will be changed to 15 yards deep and the goal posts will be moved to the back of the end zone instead of the current position at the goal line. The argument for the 15 yard end zones is that current CFL field have end zones that are not consistent. One field has an end zone that has curved corners due to the track around the field. The argument is that this will lead to 10% more end zone completions (i.e. touchdowns) per year though the statistics for the past 7 years suggest that is a bit optimistic. That this is also going to result in fewer field goals since a 35 yard field goal is now going to a a 50 yard field goal likely resulting in fewer field goal attempts and a lot more punts out of bounds inside the 5 yard line does not seem to be seen as potentially affecting scoring. Thankfully a suggestion that the 5 yard restraining zone on a punt be changed to a suggestion similar to the NFL free catch rule was not accepted. Basically, the CFL rule is that no opposing player who was not onside when the ball was punted is allowed to be within 5 yards of the punt returner before the ball is caught. This does make punt returns a lot more exciting than the NFL's free catch or tracking the ball down and stopping it (again, IMNSHO). Ahh... that feels so much better.