It was Week 16 when the Los Angeles Rams found themselves on the wrong end of a strange finish against the Seattle Seahawks. A replay review changed what seemed like an incomplete pass into a successful two-point conversion. This moment frustrated Sean McVay and his team, leading them to suggest a change in the rules.

However, things got a little tricky when McVay tried to put that idea into words. As part of the NFL Competition Committee, he had a seat at the table but struggled to explain the idea clearly.

“It was really hard the way that we had to write it just because of the semantics of the rules,” Sean McVay said. “So then, when I was explaining it, I did feel that exact way. I’m like, man, if I’m having to feel like I’m putting a Rubik’s Cube together, this is probably too complex. But yes, actually, that’s probably an accurate way to assess it.”

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That play had already tied the game and eventually led to a 38-37 overtime win for the Hawks.

Meanwhile, the play itself came from a strange bounce. A deflection changed a backward throw into a ball that went forward, which the rules consider a pass. Because of this, anyone on the field could catch it downfield, leading to a confusing situation that the Rams wanted to address.

That one moment really changed everything for the Rams and Seahawks. The Hawks used that boost to take charge of the NFC West and eventually made a run for the Super Bowl, while the Rams struggled to keep their hold on the division. Later on, Seattle eliminated them in the playoffs and went on to become champions.

In the end, McVay stepped back from pushing the change because the situation itself was so rare.

What were Sean McVay’s proposed rules?

The Rams came up with two suggestions to clear up the confusion.

First, they proposed that if a backward pass gets tipped and goes past the line of scrimmage, it should be treated like a fumble. This way, in important moments like the end of the game, fourth downs, or conversion attempts, only the player who originally had the ball could pick it up and run with it, while any other recovery would just stop where it was.

If that rule had been around during the Rams-Seahawks game, the outcome would have changed a lot. Zach Charbonnet’s recovery in the end zone wouldn’t have counted for Seattle. Instead, they would have needed Sam Darnold to grab the ball himself for those two points to count.

The reasoning was pretty simple. The defense had already messed up the play, and a fortunate bounce sent the ball forward. So, in cases where fumbles have clear recovery rules, the Rams believed this type of play should be treated the same way instead of giving an advantage to a random event.

At the same time, the second idea was about how long replay reviews should take, not the actual plays. The Rams wanted to shorten the time to about 40 to 60 seconds for reviews to start, so games wouldn’t feel so slow.

As Sean McVay noted, the Rams won’t move forward with the proposal because of its complexity, despite having solid reasons for the change.