I can't take credit for this, but the more that I think about it the more it makes sense.
Today I heard McCown and sidekick Brunt on Fan 590/Sportsnet interviewing Commish Cohon.
Bob comes up with this out of the box idea to presumably increase offense in the aleague.
Instead of the current system of 5, 10, 15 yards penalties for a flag the concept is this.
For a 5 yard infraction the offending team loses a player, presumably the penalized one for one play, 10 yards is two plays and down the road for 3 plays at 15 yards.
Now let's stand back a little and evaluate, how would this change or alter the game?
I like it and Bob even suggested to Mark to try it out during an exhibition game.
Now the commish kind of laughed it off, but I say it has merit.
Opnions please!
In rugby, serious violations (e.g. illegal hits) result in the player being sent to the “sin bin” for a period of time. This results in an imbalance, giving the unpenalized team an advantage on the edges and often results in that team moving downfield and possibly scoring tries (equivalent of TDs) or kicks for points (FGs).
I don’t, however, see this working in football. First, one player down out of fifteen isn’t as serious as on out of twelve. Second, while rugby players have designated roles on the field, they aren’t as specialized as football players. In rugby, if you lose a player to the sin bin, the rest of the players just adjust their positions to fill the gap. In football, on the other hand, the coach would need to decide which position to leave out. On offense, leave out a running back or a receiver? On defense, lineman, linebacker, DB, or safety? Lose an offensive player, and you may lose a down. But lose a player on defence, and you probably get burned for a serious gain. Two or three plays in a row, and you’ve almost guaranteed a touchdown.
I don't think offense is needed to be increased myself. :?
And it’s too late to correct my spelling. Sorry about that.
Even a spill chequer wouldn’t halve cot this won. (Although it might have caught “defense”, if it were Canadian.)
maybe you can kick out the penalized guy for 1/2/3 play(s), but allow him to be replaced… I’m not sure… I personally don’t see a problem with the penalties as they are now
however, just taking a player out would not work, at all… imagine trying to play with 4 OL (and that would happen fairly often with false start, holding calls) … a delay of game penalty is assessed to the QB, then what are you going to do? on defense, if you lose a DB, then you’re almost guaranteed to be leaving someone wide open.
spoken like a true hockey fan 
this seems kind of silly.
I love hockey but this is football, not hockey.
That’s the first thing I thought of… :lol:
Sirusly 
Why not__________- get rid of the 5 yard no yard's penalty and make the 15 yd no yard penalty a 20 or 25 yard infraction?
And change yards to meters 
How does taking away an offensive starter increase offence? :?
...make the penalized player wear his helmet backwards for the specified number of plays....
Or remove his helmet altogether?
Make him wear a watermellon helmate so everyone will laugh at him...
...think of the possible hilarity though of a penalized O-lineman sacking his own QB....
make him play the rest of the game in a cheer leader outfit.
So no one likes this rule?
Am I the only one to see great possibilities here?
Mark me down as a No. Any system that creates more men on one side than the other will only lead to mismatches and injuries.
I am intrigued by the idea that guys be required to leave the game briefly (say a play or two) when they take penalties, but I would make it happen only when a player is flagged for more than one infraction in a game. So if a guy takes a penalty, his backup better stay warmed up on the sideline.
Ha,ha,ha… Love it.
I don't like the call, does have a hockey feel to it. Say 2 or 3 players are penalized? You'd play 12 vs 9 players? Just give the other team a TD in that case and not waste the effort to get the TD that will occur.
How about making the penalized player play on the other team? And the only way they can return to their team is to score a touchdown.
Or force the penalized player to stand frozen at the point of foul. While they would be prohibited from participating in the play, all other players would have to navigate around them, like they do with the refs, for the rest of the game.
Hockey uses player imbalances because territorial penalties don't work as well.