A year after the NFL adopted changes to playoff overtime and the use of instant replay, more changes on those fronts may be coming.
The NFL Competition Committee is considering proposals to make overtime uniform throughout the year -- rather than having a different overtime format for the postseason -- and to make turnovers automatically reviewable, as scoring plays are now.
Last year the NFL changed playoff overtime so that the team receiving the opening kickoff couldn’t win on a field goal on its first possession. The NFL could decide to adopt that rule for the regular season as well, although there has been resistance in some quarters to any rule that could make the game longer, which this rule could.
And last year the NFL changed the instant replay rules so that all scoring plays were automatically reviewed, rather than subject to a coach’s challenge. The Competition Committee will look into expanding that rule so that all turnovers are also automatically reviewed.
Any recommendations from the Competition Committee will be voted on by all 32 teams at a meeting of the league’s owners.