The NFL owner’s meetings were productive but still left many questions to be answered when the owners reconvene in May, though talks of a new labor agreement look unlikely before then.
The biggest development was the new playoff overtime rule, in which kicking a field goal no longer guarantees victory. Sudden death was replaced by slightly-drawn-out death, as a field goal will give the opposing team a chance to match or better the mark in the playoffs. According to ESPN's John Clayton, at the May meetings, the the owners could debate whether to expand the new rule for use during the regular season, possibly as early as this coming season.
While owners attempted to outduel Congress in debating time for the new rule, the competition committee passed seven of the eight playing-rule proposals on the docket in under 40 minutes.
The main changes made by the committee regarded player safety. New penalties will be enforced for hitting an unprotected receiver in the head or neck area with the helmet, shoulder or elbow. A violation will be flagged for unnecessary roughness.
Another new rule prevents play from continuing if a ball carrier loses his helmet. The play will be blown dead, with the ball placed at the spot of progress where the helmet comes off.
While the glamorous receivers and rushers being protected made the biggest news, guys in the trenches — long-snappers and umpires — are being protected too. Defensive players are no longer allowed to line up directly over snappers to prevent injuries, since they are unprotected immediately after snapping the ball. Umpires will be moved away from some of the action and into the offensive backfield, mostly because three umpires had serious injuries requiring surgery stemming from last season.
If you are a kick returner, you might not feel quite as safe, though. It's not exactly an XFL-style rule change, and the "Halo rule" is still in effect, but if a returner muffs a fair catch, he is entitled to catch the muff before it hits the ground without interference of the coverage team. But the penalty now will only be for five yards, not the previous 15. Return men now have extra reason not to mess up.
In the world of fairly mundane rule changes, Jerry Jones and his behemoth scoreboard were rewarded with a dead-ball call. If a ball hits a scoreboard, guide wire or sky cam, there will be no infraction, and the play will be replayed. Sandlot football players everywhere can rejoice as they watch their idols take part what amounts to a do-over.
When not discussing rules, Roger Goodell went over why the schedule has not been released. Upset at the tanking backlash by playoff teams protecting stars from injuries, Goodell is looking into ways to make the end-of-season games more competitive. In an effort to increase the impact of losing a game at the end of the year, the commissioner is looking into making the final Sunday a full slate of divisional games and the penultimate weekend a "decent schedule" of divisional games.
What does that mean? You could see Patriots-Jets to end the regular season. Hope you're excited for the Brian Hoyer–Eric Ainge quarterback matchup at Foxboro.
