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New rules.
— Giving designated defensive players a radio in his helmet, allowing coaches to relay defensive signals just as offensive signals are relayed from offensive coaches to the quarterback.
— Eliminating the 5-yard penalties for incidental face masks. Only the 15-yard penalty for grabbing and twisting the mask will be enforced. In addition, officials will be on the lookout for offensive players who latch on to the face masks of defenders in an effort to take them out of plays.
— Eliminating the force out rule. In the past, officials could rule a receiver whose feet had not touched in bounds had made a catch because a defensive player had forced him out. Under the new rule, a receiver must land with both feet in bounds regardless of whether or not he is hit while in the air.
“We feel that with so many levels of judgment that go into the force-out call, it creates a more consistent play when either you get your feet down for a complete pass or you do not,” says Atlanta president Rich McKay, co-chairman of the competition committee, which proposed the change.
— Extending instant replay to cover field goal and extra points and illegal forward handoffs. One reason the rule was added was a play at the end of a game in Baltimore in which Phil Dawson’s 51-yard game-tying field goal attempt for Cleveland bounced off an upright, then off the support behind the crossbar. Officials first ruled it no good because they thought it had hit the crossbar, then conferred and made the correct call.
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