Arena Football League (AFL) - Pigskin Progress - On MLN Sports Zone

Pigskin Progress
The Arena Football League realizes that with progress, change is inevitable.

Jonathan Roybal
MinorLeagueNews.com

10.29.03 -- The Arena Football League’s [AFL] 18th regular-season will soon get underway with nineteen teams, including four clubs in new markets, competing for a shot at the ArenaBowl title.

A number of key rule and format changes have been revealed for the 2004 season, the biggest of which being the implement of a bye week for each team, and the elimination of the Wild Card Round for the postseason.

The league’s odd number of teams necessitates that at least one team have a bye each week, throughout the 17-week regular season.

It also means the 2004 playoffs will go from four rounds to three, including ArenaBowl XVIII, with only eight teams qualifying for the postseason instead of 12.

"An eight-team playoff will leave little margin for error this season," said AFL Rules and Competition Committee Chairman and Arizona Rattlers Vice President of Operations Gene Nudo. “Each regular-season game’s significance is now multiplied."

Further increasing the stakes, is the fact that the top eight teams in the league based on overall record will qualify for the playoffs. Thus, division winners are no longer guaranteed a playoff spot.

In addition to these changes, the league also approved a number of recommendations brought forth from the Rules and Competition Committee.

The notable rule changes for 2004 include:

• Offside or encroachment by the defense will return to a 5-yard penalty and no automatic first down. Last season, the infraction included an automatic first down.

• Teams will be permitted to bring 37 players to training camp instead of 30.

• Tripping by a defensive player will result in an automatic first down.

• Hands to Face fouls will increase to a personal foul, 10-yard penalty, rather than a 5-yard infraction.

"The committee’s goal is to constantly refine our game and put the best product on the field year-in and year-out. The re-modification of our defensive offside penalty clearly shows the committee's open mindedness in revisiting past changes," said Nudo.

The 2004 AFL season begins with the Detroit Fury hosting the San Jose SaberCats on Thursday, February 5 and culminates with ArenaBowl XVIII on Sunday, June 27.