Although it's been Bill Belichick making headlines this week for his facial expressions and mannerisms, a lot more has been happening at the 2016 NFL owners meetings in New York. The league agreed to make seven changes Tuesday.
The change getting the most attention is the ban on all chop blocks. Such blocks have resulted in serious injuries, mostly for defensive lineman, and sometimes wouldn't even result in a penalty, but the NFL will now make a drastic decision to eliminate the dangerous act.
Other issues will be voted on tomorrow, but here are the other six changes that will take effect for the 2016 NFL season:
- PATs will now permanently be snapped from the 15-yard line.
- Any grabbing above the name plate on a player's jersey will now be considered a horse collar tackle.
- Offensive and defensive coordinators will now be able to use coach-to-player communication (headsets) from the booth.
- Teams will be penalized for "delay of game" if they attempt to call a timeout when they're not able to.
- There is no longer a five-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 a down."
- The league has done away with "multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession."
Two measures were voted against today, including the Ravens' proposal for those who are normally considered ineligible receivers to wear pennies to establish themselves as eligible, and the Panthers' suggestion for a forward pass have a "realistic chance of completion" to avoid being penalized for intentional grounding.
NFL owners will vote again Wednesday morning, which is the final day of the meetings, to determine the expansion of replay as well as ejections for players who commit two personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one game.
We'll see if the NFL Compeition Committee will have some more announcements to make tomorrow regarding overarching changes to the game.
But it's likely Bill Belichick's facial expressions and crossed arms will still be atop the list of things everyone will be focused on.
