NFL owners approve rule changes

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A handful of rule changes were approved on the final day of the NFL owners meetings, including one that means officials will no longer have to make a judgment call on whether wide receivers would have gotten two feet in bounds had they not been pushed out.
The so-called "force-out" rule passed unanimously, and the significance of it is receivers will now have to get both feet down in bounds for a catch to be ruled a completed pass. The only exception to this is if a defender carries a receiver out of bounds before he gets one or both feet down.

"I think it's going to be a lot easier to officiate," Colts coach Tony Dungy said of the new rule, "and I think offenses will just know that you've got to get both feet in."

Other proposals that passed Wednesday included:

â?¢ The elimination of the 5-yard face mask penalty. Referees will have to decide whether touching or grabbing the face mask is incidental contact or warrants a 15-yard personal foul penalty.

â?¢ The review of field goals via instant replay. All field-goal attempts except for those that go over the uprights will be subject to review. Those that go over the uprights are not reviewable because camera angles would make it difficult to make a conclusive judgment.

â?¢ The coin toss rule. Teams that win the opening coin toss will have the choice of deferring the choice of kicking off or receiving until the start of the second half. Previously, teams that won the toss had only the option of kicking off or receiving.
NFL owners approve rule changes - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Ch-ch-ch-changes.......

I can see the facemask penalty and the force out of being topics for upcoming complaints.

Have a good one!:jointsmile:

The NFL is usually on the money with the bulk of their changes. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and wait and see how they are in games. I'm all for dropping the 5 yard face mask penalty and allowing a defender to get a mic though (Should make the Bucs D ever stronger :jointsmile:)

Just as long as they are allowing some sort of contact vs. the weak ass face masking calls made when a player brushes his hand across the mask during a tackle. 15 yards for that would be a crime!

Have a good one!:jointsmile: