The 2025/26 National Football League (NFL) regular season kicks off in just seven days with the Dallas Cowboys visiting the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday, September 4, 2025, and JustBet offers over 120 betting options for every NFL contest. The Baltimore Ravens are going off as JustBet preseason favourites, with the Eagles third in the pecking order, so the anticipation is high for a very eventful period between next month and February 2026.

That said, there is some catching up to do before the kick-off, with the NFL Competition Committee approving a few interesting rule changes for the upcoming season. Every offseason the committee receives and considers suggestions from coaches, general managers, owners, current players and NFL legends, the NFL Players Association, medical personnel and the media, and sifts through the implications of said recommendations.

During this process the committee considers how the recommendations would improve the game, how they would affect officiating, how they would enhance player protection and their general potential impact on the game. Then, along with the 32 NFL owners, the decision is taken on which recommendations to adopt and which to discard, and this offseason saw some sweeping changes. Here is a peek at the major rule changes to look for this season.

Touchbacks: Touchbacks for kick-offs have been moved from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, in an effort to enhance gameplay. A touchback occurs when the ball, during a kick-off, goes into the receiving team’s end zone, is downed by a player from the receiving team in the end zone, or goes out of bounds behind the receiving team’s goal line. The change was made to encourage the kicking team to keep the ball in play, with the hope that it will discourage booting the ball out of the end zone, knowing that the receiving team will automatically get a shorter distance to gain just 20 to 25 yards to get into field goal range. According to the league, the data shows a 65 to 75 per cent return rate if the touchback is moved to the 35-yard line, more than double the rate in the 2024 season.

Onside Kicks: Under the old rule, a team could only attempt an onside kick in the fourth quarter, and only if they were trailing in the game. Under the new rule, onside kicks are allowed at any point during games, but the kicking team still has to be trailing. This will allow coordinators the ability to dip into their bag of tricks a lot more often and add another layer of excitement to the game when required.

First down measurements: First downs will no longer be measured by the good old “chain gang”, they have been replaced by Sony’s Hawk-Eye virtual measurement system, which was first used in July’s Hall of Fame game. That said, while the virtual assistant will be the primary method for measuring, the chain gang will still be on the field to serve as redundancy in case there are any issues with the new technology. It’s looking like a good way to get three hours of pay for doing next to nothing, unless Hawk-Eye fails.

Replay Assist: NFL teams voted to amend Rule 15 to expand Instant Replay’s ability to advise the on-field officials on specific, objective aspects of a play and/or to address game administration issues when clear and obvious video evidence is present. The increased latitude of replay officials includes the ability to address specific calls without a coach’s challenge and now incorporates five additional reviewable penalties: hitting a defenceless player, face mask offences, horse-collar tackles, tripping, and roughing/running into the kicker; however, the replay assistant cannot retroactively apply a penalty that is not flagged on the field.

For instance, if an obvious face mask infringement is missed on the field, the video assistant cannot instruct the referee to throw a penalty on the play. However, if a face mask flag is thrown on a play where a face mask infringement didn’t occur, then replay assist can step in to have the flag picked up.

Overtime (OT) Possessions: The NFL owners have voted to align the regular-season OT rules more closely with the postseason overtime rules. Under the OT rules in the postseason, the period is 15 minutes long and both teams are guaranteed a possession, even if the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown, unless the clock runs out on the opening possession. Both teams will now be guaranteed a possession during overtime in a regular-season game, but the OT period will only be 10 minutes long. Under the previous regular-season rule, the team that got the ball first could win the game by scoring a touchdown on their first possession, and the opposing team wouldn’t have a chance to get the ball.

The “Bow and Arrow” is legal(ish): The NFL handed out a US$5,690.00 fine to Jalyx Hunt of the Philadelphia Eagles in February’s Super Bowl, for a bow and arrow celebration following a sack on the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. However, during a rules session with the media in July, NFL referee Land Clark noted that the NFL will continue to crack down on violent gestures, so players will still be penalized for any celebration that involves “guns, knives or weapons,” but the bow and arrow will be allowed, as long as it is not ‘aimed’ at an opponent. Which begs the question: Now that the ‘archer pose’ has been deemed legal, will Hunt have grounds to get his money refunded?

The 2025-26 NFL season has been eagerly anticipated. There have been a lot of personnel movement between teams and some injection of ‘young blood’ here and there. The Chiefs were favoured last season, all the way up to the Super Bowl, where their performance was nothing short of a nightmare. It is anybody’s guess who will be crowned champion this season, but one thing is for certain, it will be a roller-coaster joyride. Are you ready for some football?

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Super Bowl LX Champion

– February 8, 2026

Team Odds

Baltimore Ravens 7.60

Buffalo Bills 7.80

Philadelphia Eagles 8.00

Kansas City Chiefs 9.00

Detroit Lions 12.00

Green Bay Packers 20.00

San Francisco 49ers 20.00

Los Angeles Rams 21.00

Washington Commanders21.00

Cincinnati Bengals 22.00

*Only Top 10 odds are shown (see website for full list)

Note: Odds are subject to change