The new NFL season is almost here, with the preseason and training camp already starting around the league.
Teams all over the league are gearing up for what should be a fun season ahead. One team in particular that has gained a lot of hype this offseason is the Cincinnati Bengals.
After a strong offseason, Cincinnati is gaining steam around the AFC as a potential sleeper squad. The front office revamped the defense, giving star quarterback Joe Burrow some extra help for the season.
The Bengals are looking to break a three-year playoff drought, with the hope of getting back to the Super Bowl being there. But for now, the team will focus on taking things day-by-day, getting the small wins that can translate to larger gains.
NFL Reveals New League Rule For 2026
But ahead of the year starting, the league has revealed a new rule that will impact all coaches, including Bengals’ leading man Zac Taylor. ESPN NFL insider Kevin Seifert reported that head coaches will now be able to designate a member of their sideline staff to initiate replay challenges in-game.
This is a change from the previous rule that only allowed head coaches to make the call. Coaches will have to inform the officials before the game starts if they want to assign the task to someone, or keep it for themselves.
But this change could be massive when it comes to outcomes of games. This was one of the big tweaks that came from the NFL annual meeting where rule changes are made.
Rule 15, Section 1, Article 1(a) now reads: “The head coach or head coach’s pregame challenge designee can initiate a challenge by throwing a red flag onto the field of play before the next legal snap or kick.”
Last season, there were 151 coaches’ challenges across the NFL. This marked the highest number of challenges since the 2019 season.
How New NFL Rule Impacts Zac Taylor?
Having the ability to designate the challenges could change everything for teams across the league. Sometimes coaches can become too emotionally invested in a play, prompting them to issue a challenge, even if it doesn’t make sense.
This could create firewalls, allowing teams to hold onto challenges for other situations that could arise over the course of the game. While the head coach will still be involved in the decision to throw a challenge, this may help out coaches who may be on the fence over whether to throw the challenge.
For Taylor, it could give him more of a chance to focus on the in-game situations, knowing that he has someone else watching for this at any given moment. Some criticisms of Taylor over his career have been his inability to make adjustments mid-game, and this new rule could help him, even slightly.
All in all, this could be a rule for the betterment of the league. Coaches all over will likely still hold onto the ability to make a call, but having this option in their back pocket could really be a game-changer.
NFL Announces New Rule Impacting Bengals’ Zac Taylor