At the NFL owners meeting in Orlando this week, a bevy of rules were set to be considered. On Wednesday morning, the votes were counted, and some interesting happenings resulted.
NFL rule changes: ‘Navarro Bowman rule’ passes, all plays reviewable voted down
The NFL is making some rules changes for the 2014 season, while tinkering with others.
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Our latest mock draft
In our latest mock draft, one of the quarterbacks takes a small slide. For starters, the league now will include loose-ball situations in replay, a rule stemming from the NaVorro Bowman fiasco in the NFC Championship Game, per Jason La Confora. Last year, Bowman forced a fumble before tearing his ACL, but the ball was awarded to the Seahawks after the player was ruled, incorrectly, down by contact.
However, the league will not be making all plays reviewable, something proposed by the New England Patriots. The NFL also voted down the notion of putting extra cameras on the goal line and boundaries to help with replay.
There will also be no extension to the amount of players who can be put on the injured reserve designated to return list, according to Ryan Van Bibber.
Another point of contention has been what to do with extra points. The proposal to have the ball snapped from the 25-yard line was voted down, but there will be experimenting in the first two preseason weeks. In those games, extra points will be kicked from the 20-yard line. In related news, the goalposts will be extended five feet, another item the Patriots brought to the table.
Also in the kicking game, the kickoff will remain at the 35-yard line. There had been momentum to put it back at the 40-yard line, where it had been before being moved in the 1970’s.
On quarterback sacks, the game clock will now run at all times outside of the final two minutes. The idea of getting rid of preseason overtime was tabled until May, while the proposal of adding goal line and boundary cameras will be discussed with the networks, per NFL.com. The practice squad might still grow from eight to 10 players, and Thursday night rosters could expand from 46 to 49 players.
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