Like the idea of a 6/8 week injured reserve. Good move.

When automatic review of scoring plays was first implemented last season, the idea was no challenges because all scores would be reviewed. That was great when the play was ruled a score But when the play was wrongly ruled not to be a score, there was no automatic review and the coaches couldn’t challenge. We saw that happen last season. Will that happen now if the field officials can’t spot a fumble or int? No automatic review and no coach’s challenge either? Have they worked out the kinks this time?

Right before OT begins, coaches have their players bring a card to the ref. On the card is the yard line that you are willing to take the ball. Whichever team is willing to take the ball deeper in it’s own territory gets the ball to start OT.

Example: Pack and Saints go into OT. Saints don’t want to give Rodgers the ball with a chance to win so they are willing to take the ball at their own 8 yard line. Pack doesn’t want to give the ball to Brees, so they wrote down they’d take it at their own 6. Pack then start OT with the ball at their own 6 yard line – sudden death.

Added bonus – no extra KO in OT, which they say causes a lot of injuries.

You’re welcome, NFL.

If they were serious about player safety, and not public image, they’d engineer a safer helmet(they use the same helmet as 20 years ago), and put a weight limit on players based on position.

But let’s not kid ourselves, 3 things drive football’s rabid fanbase. Fantasy, gambling, and VIOLENCE. With all three, any attempts to ‘fix’ them is simply window dressing.

Or quit calling it so tight, but we all know that won’t happen.

Not sure I like this rule as it seems to be saying that there is no IR anymore and it is just an “injury list” that has no limits to how many players are on it. Could a team be real aggressive and put 5-10 players on it a week and by mid-season have 50 players on it that are basically ready to situationally be played, if needed? Perhaps a limited number should be allowed for the season. Say 3 players can be designated for return. In this case, there would be No time restraint, but the team would have to provide the league one week irrevocable notice.

I also wonder what impact placing a player on IR has on the overall salary cap restrictions? Increasing the number of players in IR and subsequently on the teams would seem to be a salary cap concern.

The horse collar tackle rule, while certainly commendable, is still a bit of a judgement call.

What’s wrong with having the on-field ref be able to call a review?

The “defenseless player” rules are silly.

Replay needs to be limited to scores, not turnovers – some games are needlessly prolonged because of replay.

On bylaws, I like the proposed change to IR and trade deadline.

#2 – It has been said before, but I agree that we are protecting the quarterback too much these days. No need to go further. The horse-collar issue is really only dangerous when a player is on the run

#5 – Calling this a dead play when the defense has too many people is absurd. It should continue to be treated as a free play for the offense. On the other hand, when the offense has it, I am in agreement with a dead play call.

#7 – Automatically reviewing turnovers is a bad idea. The turnovers is where the challenges really come into play. A lot of these is a judgement call and should still be on the team that did not benefit from it to see if they want to risk it. This is a big game changer play that shouldn’t be automatically reviewed.

The other rules I agree with, but at the same time do not feel they are necessary.

Still no desire by the league to have all healthy players on the roster suit up?

I continue to be baffled that the NFL pays up to 7 guys a full salary to sit out games when they are healthy.

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Well, here in Carolina, even if all 53 players were considered active, Jimmy Clausen still wouldn’t have been allowed to wear a uniform.

The overtime debate is equally a joke. Keep it like it is – sudden death, first score of any type wins. “But it’s not fair for a team to win because they win a coin flip.” Too freaking bad. You had 60 minutes to beat the opponent. You lose the coin flip and the other team scores right away, them’s the breaks. You shouldn’t have let the game get to OT in the first place. Put you big boy drawers on and quit crying.

But, since they’re going this direction, why not add hair to the list? So you can’t use the neck area of the shoulder pad, the back of the shoulder pad, the back of the jersey, hair ….. Why not just outlaw all tackles from behind? Since we’re so giddy about safety, let’s just turn it into two hand touch.

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Tom Brady in the SB is one instance.

Unbelievable that a Multi-billion $ enterprise uses part time employees in such a critical role.

This is the most inconsistent call made/ not made by the refs because it HAPPENS ON EVERY PLAY anyway.

Make it legal and take one way for the refs to affect a game away.

They also need full time refs. Players spend the offseason working out. Coaches/GMs spend the offseason signing players and scouting. Refs need to be spending the offseason honing the understanding of the rules and watching film to better understand the proper calls in various situations.