Last season, Bill Belichick used a dead-ball penalty loophole to burn time off of the clock in a late game situation against the Jets.
After the game, he had a good laugh about it and said the loophole should (and probably would) be closed once the league discusses new rule changes during the offseason’s owners meetings.
It turns out that, once again, Belichick was right. The rule did change. It officially happened today.
As part of newly approved regulations from out of the league’s owner meetings, the Bill Belichick loophole is now closed. The league’s competition committee approved a new rule that prevents teams from burning down the game clock by committing multiple dead-ball fouls with the game clock running.
Good on the league to nip this thing in the bud before it ever ballooned into something major
Unfortunately for Belichick, he became a casualty of the loophole before the rule was changed. It was used against him by Titans head coach and former Patriots assistant Mike Vrabel in the playoffs last year in their win on the way to the AFC Championship Game. Go figure.
It’s gone now. And with it, we’ve lost maybe the only thing we’ve ever seen make Belichick crack (somewhat?) of a smile.
Oh well. The league is better for it.
