[UPDATED May 25, 2015]
The NFL Owners voted 30-2 last week at the owners' meetings in San Francisco to approve a rule change regarding the extra point in 2015. Prior to the change, the extra point was taken from the 2-yard line, but is now being pushed back to the 15-yard line in 2015.
Last year, two-point conversions were also taken from the 2-yard line, and will remain so going forward. However, in accordance with the change, defenses can now return a two-point conversion attempt for two points themselves – something that wasn't allowed in years past. With the changes to the rule, PATs will go from approximately a 20-yard attempt to a 33-yard attempt going forward.
In addition to the new PAT rule, the **NFL owners voted on 23 proposed rule changes for the 2015 season in late March in Phoenix, Ariz., and of all the proposals, six in total were adopted.
One noticeable rule that was not changed was what constitutes a legal catch. Instead, NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino offered a change in the verbiage of the rule.
"The committee looked at the language and made several changes," Blandino said at the owners meetings earlier this week. "In order to complete a catch, the receiver has to have control, both feet on the ground, and he has to have it after that long enough to clearly establish himself as a runner. This would fall directly in line with our defenseless player rule, where we say a receiver is protected until he can clearly establish himself as a runner. And what does that mean? That means he has the ability to ward off and protect himself from the impending contact."
The Raiders are no strangers to the effects of this rule as you can see from the video below.
Here are the six additional rules and a brief explanation of what they mean.
Peel-Back Block
- Now includes all offensive players being penalized as opposed to just those inside the tackle box.
Protecting Receivers
- Extends the protection if the pass is intercepted and the intended receivers remain unable to defend themselves from a hit.
Chop Block
- It is now illegal for a back to chop a defensive player engaged above the waist by another offensive player outside the tight end area.
Pushing a Teammate at the Line of Scrimmage on Punts and Field Goals
- Now illegal.
Game Clock
- There is now the ability to review the game clock at the end of a half, game or overtime to determine if there should be more time remaining.
Medical Timeout
- The timeout stops action and allows medical officials to remove a player who observers believe to be injured or concussed.
- The player would be removed from the game and undergo a sideline examination or undergo the league's concussion protocol.
- The player's team would be allowed to substitute for him and the opposing team would be given a chance to change personnel as well.
