The Detroit Lions made a proposal to the league to amend the rule that gives offenses an automatic first down when the defense commits holding or illegal contact. That proposal fell by the wayside Tuesday after the owners voted against making the change.
Before the vote, Lions head coach Dan Campbell, speaking at the Annual League Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, made his pitch for the proposal but admitted he didn't "feel great" about the chances of the vote actually happening. Campbell did say he thought the proposal had "some legs".
#Lions HC Dan Campbell speaks on Detroit’s proposal to eliminate an automatic 1st down as a penalty imposed for defensive holding and illegal contact. Says he doesn’t “feel great” about it getting passed during the NFL annual meeting, but “it’s got some legs” pic.twitter.com/Rcmokef38P
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) April 1, 2025
The Lions initially made the proposal in an effort to gives defenses more of a chance and not be fully punished for committing such penalties on situations such as 3rd and 15. Ultimately, the vote failed, meaning offenses will still be granted an automatic first down no matter what the down and distance is on the given play.
Among the resolutions that have passed:
-Regular season overtime will now be similar to postseason overtime in that both teams will have a chance to possess the football, but the period will remain 10 minutes -- the original proposal had 15 minutes but was amended.
-Expanded replay assist to add more help in penalties that are called on the field. This is just for penalties already called that can be picked up, not for penalties not called and then later be called.
-The league now only has to give a 21-day advance notice for games being flexed to Thursday night. Previously, it was 28 days. Only one game has been flexed to Thursday night, last season's Broncos-Chargers Week 16 game, replacing Bengals-Browns.
-Touchbacks on kickoffs will now bring the ball out to the 35-yard line, which was the original proposal last year before the league decided on making it the 30. A vote on adjusted onside kick rules will come in May.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions proposal to change defensive penalties fails
