The 2012 NFL owner meetings will take place next week in Florida and Scott Brown from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the Steelers have proposed two new rule changes to the competition committee that will apparently be voted on. Brown says the first rule change one that was proposed by the Steelers was to implement the sudden death overtime rule that is now in place for playoff games into regular season games as well. That would mean that if team A kicked a field goal on their opening possession, team B would be given one chance to either match the field goal or win the game with a touchdown. If the two teams are even after their first possessions, the game reverts to a sudden-death format with the first team scoring winning the game at that point.
The other rule change that the Steelers propose according to Brown is that it would make it illegal to make a horse-collar tackle on quarterback while he is in the pocket. Currently you can take down a quarterback with a horse-collar tackle as long as he is inside the tackle box. The most recent illustration of this was the November 20 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens when linebacker Terrell Suggs pulled down Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton with a horse-collar tackle on the last play of the game.
There are apparently several other rule changes proposed that include more modifications to instant reoplay and expanding the defenseless player rule as Pro Football Talk explains. The addition of a an injured reserve exemption will also apparently be voted on for the bylaws along with expanding the roster limit for training camp and the offseason to 90 players. Moving the trade deadline from Week 6 to Week 8 will also be discussed as will the addition of one roster exemption per team per week for a player who is inactive with a concussion.
So there certainly will be a laundry list of things to vote on this go around in Florida and it will be interesting to see what changes to the rules are made as a result.
