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Duffman
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The NFL is considering some major rule changes: 14 things to know
Gotta love the whining by the Chiefs. Also I'm in favor of making all plays reviewable.
Here are 14 things to know about the NFL's potential rule changes for 2016:
1. Touchbacks no longer at the 20-yard line. One of the biggest rule changes proposed by the competition committee this year is to change the touchback. Under the proposed new rule, any kickoff that results in a touchback would give the opposing the team the ball at the 25-yard line instead of the 20. As the rule is currently written, teams would only get the ball on the 25-yard line after a touchback on a "free kick," meaning a touchback after a turnover or a punt would still give the opposing team the ball at the 20-yard line.
2. Make the extra point rule permanent. When the NFL changed the extra point rule for the 2015 season, the competition committee only made it a one-year change, which means there's no extra point rule on the books for 2016. This rule proposal will likely pass and make last year's change permanent, which means kickers better get used to those 33-yard extra points.
3. Automatic ejection for any player who receives two personal foul penalties in one game. This rule proposal by the competition committee is likely going to pass, but there are going to be some caveats. As CBSSports.com colleague Ryan Wilson outlined on Wednesday morning, only two types of personal fouls would be considered for ejection. Taunting, punching or kicking would count against a player's two-penalty limit. Hitting a defenseless players, using the crown of your helmet or hitting a quarterback egregiously late would also count toward the two-penalty limit.
4. Make personal foul penalties reviewable. If personal fouls are going to lead to ejections, then they should be reviewable, right? That's what the Redskins want. Under this proposal from Washington, personal fouls could be reviewed and potentially be overturned
5. Make all chop blocks illegal. There are only a few instances where chop blocks are currently legal and the competition committee wants to get rid of those. Under the rule proposal, all chop blocks would be illegal. Currently, if an offensive lineman chops a defensive player "while the defensive player is physically engaged above the waist by the blocking attempt of another offensive teammate," then the chop is legal.
6. Each team gets three challenges per game. One thing became clear with all the rule proposals this year: Teams are not happy with the current challenge system. Currently, each NFL teams gets two challenges per game and can earn a third one if they win their first two. Under a rule change proposed by the Ravens, each team would get three challenges no matter what. The Vikings and Redskins have also proposed similar rules that would give each team three challenges, so there's a good chance this one will pass.
6-B. All plays can be challenged. What's better than three challenges? Infinity challenges! The Bills have proposed that all plays can be challenged except scoring plays and turnovers, which are automatically challenged. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has long been a proponent of a system where every play is challengeable.
Now we just need a rule where you can challenge a challenge.
7. The Peyton Manning rule. Since Peyton Manning's now retired, it only makes sense to name a rule after him and that's basically what the Kansas City Chiefs want to do, and the Steelers will probably be on board with the change.
During the playoffs back in January, there was a play where Manning fell down, then got back up and threw a 34-yard pass.
It was a weird play and under the Chiefs' new proposal, it couldn't happen ever again. Under the the new rule, quarterbacks would be "prohibited from falling to the ground, getting up, and throwing a forward pass."
8. The Ravens very anti-Patriots rule proposal. Back in January 2015, the Patriots fooled the Ravens with some clever formations during an AFC divisional playoff game. Apparently, the Ravens are still slightly bitter about the entire incident because they're still proposing rules to make sure it never happens again.
Under this rule change, "An offensive player wearing the number of an eligible pass receiver is permitted to line up in the position of an ineligible pass receiver, provided that he wears a jersey vest matching the team uniform, with an appropriate number for his eligible or ineligible status that has not already been assigned to another teammate."
Yes. the Ravens want jersey vests. I have a feeling this one's going to get voted down.
9. Eliminate overtime in preseason games. This rule change is pretty straightforward and was proposed by the Redskins. Although the NFL isn't quite ready to shorten the preseason, it can shorten preseason games by guaranteeing that teams can't go into overtime. If this rule passes, there's a good chance you'll see a lot of preseason games end in a tie, not that it matters.
10. Expand the intentional grounding rule. The Panthers have proposed one huge change to the intentional grounding rule: "If a passer is facing an imminent loss of yardage because of pressure from the defense chooses to throw a a forward pass without a realistic chance of completion" then the passer will be flagged for intentional grounding.
This would be a huge change because it means that getting out of the pocket wouldn't necessarily save a quarterback. Currently, a quarterback can escape the pocket and throw it away. The Panthers want grounding to be called if anyone is being pressured and throws a pass that has zero chance of being caught.
11. Add penalty yards to the distance needed for a first down. This is actually an interesting rule proposal by the Chiefs that would mostly be enforced when a team has the ball near its own end zone.
Under current rules, if Kansas City has the ball first-and-10 on its own 10-yard line and gets hit with a holding call, the Chiefs would be penalized five yards because it's a half-the-distance to the goal line foul.
Under the rule proposal, the Chiefs would move five yards back AND the down marker would be moved five yards so that the Chiefs would be facing first-and-20, just as they would if they had been called for holding anywhere else on the field. Basically, on the next play, the Chiefs would snap it from their 5-yard line and would now have to get to the 25 for a first down, instead of the 20.
12. Increase the amount of active players on gameday. Although each NFL team has a 53-man roster, only 46 of those players are allowed to dress on gameday. The Cardinals have proposed a rule that would bump that number up to 48.
The Redskins have also proposed something similar: Under Washington's proposal, the gameday active list would be expanded for any game that's played outside of the country OR on a day that's not a Sunday or Monday. Of course, the Redskins forgot to specify how many players the active list should be expanded to.
13. Eliminate one of the NFL's cut days. The Redskins must've pulled an all-nighter putting all of their rule proposals together because they have quite a few, including this one. Under this proposal, the NFL would eliminate one of its two cut days.
Under current rules, NFL teams trim their rosters down from 90 to 75 players in late August, then follow that up about a week later by trimming their roster down from 75 to 53. Under this rule, there would only be one cut day: From 90 players to 53.
14. Allow coaches and players to watch video on the sideline. If you've ever seen a player throw a tablet on the sideline, it's probably because they're mad that they can't watch video. Currently, coaches and players can only look at still photos on their team-issued tablets. This rule would allow everyone to also have access to video.
Gotta love the whining by the Chiefs. Also I'm in favor of making all plays reviewable.