It will be in just a few days that the Annual League Meeting, better known as the “owners meetings”, takes place. It is during this time that the vast majority of rule changes tends to be ironed out. This year, there are 10 rule change proposals that will be submitted in front of the owners to vote on. You can read the list of rules below.
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By Competition Committee; Makes permanent the playing rule that changes the spot of the next snap after a touchback resulting from a free kick to the 25-yard line.
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By Competition Committee; Changes standard for a catch.
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By Competition Committee; Makes the penalties for Illegal Batting & Kicking the same.
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By Los Angeles Chargers; Amends Rule 15, Section 2, Article 5 to add fouls for roughing the passer and fouls against players in a defenseless posture as reviewable plays in the instant replay system.
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By Washington; Amends Rule 15, Section 2, Article 5 to add review of personal fouls as reviewable plays in the instant replay system.
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By New York Jets; Amends Rule 8, Section 5, Articles 1-4 to change the enforcement for defensive pass interference.
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7. By Competition Committee; Authorizes the designated member of the Officiating department to instruct on-field game officials to disqualify a player for a flagrant nonfootball act when a foul for that act is called on the field.
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By Competition Committee; Conforms the amount of time in which a team must challenge a play if there is a television commercial break following the play in question.
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By Competition Committee; Eliminates the requirement that a team who scores a winning touchdown at the end of regulation of a game to kick the extra point or go for two-point conversion.
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By Competition Committee; If there is a turnover, a team may win an overtime game, even though it scores on its second possession.
You know the big one, of course, which is number two, the idea of changing the catch rule. While the above proposal doesn’t go into detail, we just talked about the specifics of what will be presented to the owners a couple of days ago.
Another interesting proposal comes from the New York Jets, number six above, wanting to see the pass interference penalty changed. According to Kevin Seifert, the proposal wants to make it a 15-yard penalty rather than a spot foul. Personally, I think this makes more sense if it’s a spot foul up to 15 yards.
Among other rule changes is a rule to make the kickoff touchback point of 25 yards permanent. Multiple proposals want to make certain types of fouls reviewable, such as personal fouls. Number seven is a big one, giving NFL headquarters the authority to eject players from the game.
One that I would be shocked to see not pass is removing the requirement that teams kick an extra point or two for a two-point conversion if there is no time left on the clock. See the Vikings’ playoff win last season.
