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The NFL competition committee approved some rules changes on Tuesday during the owners' meetings in Boca Raton, Florida. There were seven that were approved were the following.
- Permanently move the line of scrimmage for Try kicks to the defensive team's 15-yard line, and allows the defense to return any missed try.
- Permits the offensive and defensive play callers on the coaching staffs to use the coach-to-player communication system regardless of whether they are on the field or in the coaches' booth.
- Makes all chop blocks illegal.
- Expands the horse collar rule to include when a defender grabs the jersey at the name plate or above and pulls a runner toward the ground.
- Makes it a foul for delay of game when a team attempts to call a timeout when it is not permitted to do so.
- Eliminates the 5-yard penalty for an eligible receiver illegally touching a forward pass after being out of bounds and re-establishing himself inbounds, and makes it a loss of down.
- Eliminates multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession.
In total, 19 rule changes were proposed. NFL teams made various proposals centered around replay rules and challenges, among other things, but none of those passed. All of the changes that have been approved by the competition committee were proposed by the competition committee.
We saw how the longer extra point affected kickers. Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed five PATs in 2015.
The chop block rule makes sense. It had already been banned at lower levels of football. It doesn't take away all low blocks, just all low blocks when someone is already being blocked high, so running backs can still cut block.
The horse collar rule will make things more complicated for referees, although if the goal is player safety, it makes sense.
Which rule makes the most sense for you?