Understanding the NFL rulebook is as easy as trying to put a toddler to bed. If there is a way to weasel around the rules, teams will figure it out. The Broncos, in perhaps the league’s most thrilling game this season, did not so much break the rules on Sunday — they exploited them.
The idea of high-jumping an offensive line to block a kick has been surging in the NFL since at least 2013, and last Sunday, it reached a pinnacle. Denver rookie safety Justin Simmons leaped the New Orleans Saints line with 1 minute, 22 seconds remaining and blocked a potential game-winning extra point.