"During upcoming owners’ meetings, clubs will vote on the following proposed rules changes. All proposals must be approved by 75% (24) of the owners to be adopted. NFL clubs will consider and vote on the following Competition Committee and club-submitted proposals. COMPETITION COMMITTEE RULES PROPOSALS By Competition Committee; to amend Rule 16, to eliminate overtime in the preseason. By Competition Committee; to amend Rule 6, Section 1, Article 3, for one year only, to establish a maximum number of players in the setup zone. By Competition Committee; to amend Rule 12, Section 2, Article 4, to expand the prohibition on blocking below the waist by offensive and defensive players on scrimmage downs when contact occurs beyond five yards on either side of the line of scrimmage and more than two yards outside of either offensive tackle. By Competition Committee, Coaches Subcommittee, and Baltimore; to amend Rule 15, Section 3, Article 9, and Rule 19, Section 2, to permit the Replay Official and designated members of the Officiating department to provide certain objective information to the on-field officials. CLUB PLAYING RULE PROPOSALS By Chicago; to amend Rule 11, Section 3, Article 3, to ensure the enforcement of all accepted penalties committed by either team during successive Try attempts. By Los Angeles Rams; to amend Rule 8, Section 1, Article 2, to add a loss of down for a second forward pass from behind the line and for a pass thrown after the ball returns behind the line. By Kansas City; to amend Rule 5, Section 1, Article 2, to expand jersey number options for certain positions. By Baltimore and Philadelphia; to amend Rule 16, Section 1, to change the options for winner of an overtime coin toss, and create a true sudden death format. By Baltimore Ravens; to amend Rule 16, Section 1, to change the options for winner of an overtime coin toss, eliminate sudden death format, and eliminate overtime in the preseason. By Philadelphia; to amend Rule 6, Section 1, Article 1, to permit a team to maintain possession of the ball after a score by substituting one offensive play (4th and 15 from the kicking team’s 25-yard line) for an onside kickoff attempt. By Baltimore; to amend Rule 19, Section 1, Article 1, to add an eighth official who is positioned somewhere other than the playing field, with full communication to on-field officials and access to a television monitor."
That's pretty interesting. So you score a 4th quarter TD, kick the extra point and then opt to take the ball on your own 25 yard line for a 4th and 15. That seems a little too harsh, to be honest, but if you have a powerful offense then maybe you try to never put your defense on the field. Think about it- you score on the opening drive, take the 4th and 15, then march down the field again. You could eat up the entire quarter if you get good enough on 4th and 15.
I'm in favor of eliminating the onside kick entirely and not replacing it with anything. If you couldn't win the game via normal means, you don't deserve to win. I've long felt that it only serves to punish the team that played better 95% of the game. On a positive note, I fully support having an official "sky judge" who's in charge of the crew and can make sure that as few mistakes are made as possible. There is zero logical reason not to do this, but apparently the officials oppose it for some reason.
No one likes to be told they made a mistake, especially the on field refs. The NFL does need to make sure another Saints-Rams type situation -in a playoff game especially, doesn't happen again.
They need to get over it. Im not concerned about the officials machismo. The important thing is getting as many calls as possible correct, and when the TV clearly shows something is different than the call on the field, it needs to be fixed. Make the official in the box the crew chief. The rest need to do what he says.
I'd go a step further and get rid of "all potential reversals/missed calls die at the snap of the football." Give the booth 1 minute (real time, not clock time) to overturn anything except minor infractions (holding, etc) that do not impact the outcome of the play. If they see something that can't be decided in a minute, then go to commercial for a booth review. I'd put a mini ref team up in that booth. Have one watch live and two more replaying every snap. If a receiver pushes off before making a catch, give the other team the option to bring it back to that down/distance after the penalty. Look specifically for holding, facemask, illegal blocks and PI on every play. And on the freak occurrence where a penalty from the previous play wipes out a score, then so be it. The rules should be followed and enforced at all times...that should be the standard we're aiming for. If player have to follow them, then there should be zero question about how they're enforced.
