Complete Guide to Newest NFL Rule Changes

A couple big rule changes will be coming to the NFL next season, as the owners meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. have produced agreements on overtime rules during the regular season and the use of replay on all turnovers. 

The competition committee voted to approve the changes Wednesday as the owners meetings concluded, as reported by USA Today's Robert Klemko.

All overtime games will change from the "sudden death" format of previous years to how the NFL now runs the postseason, where each team receives a possession unless the first team scores a touchdown.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos engaged in the first postseason game under the new format last season, with Tim Tebow finding Demaryius Thomas for a game-winning touchdown on overtime's very first play.

The replay booth for each NFL game is getting a little busier, too. 

Turnovers will now be treated like scoring plays, where the replay booth confirms each call and cancels out the need for a coach to challenge the call. It's clear the NFL is getting closer to eliminating all game-changing mistakes from their officials.

Three other changes were also agreed upon. 

According to Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald, other rule changes that passed Wednesday include a loss of down on a kicked loose ball, the consideration of "crackback" blocks under the "defenseless player" rule and too many men on the field now becoming a dead ball foul.

The latter rule will prevent a scenario like we saw in the Super Bowl, where the Giants purposely put too many men on the field to drain precious seconds off the clock late in the game.

The two rules that failed to pass were naming a replay official as the decision-maker on instant replays and making a horse-collar tackle on the quarterback a penalty.

Several other changes, including revisions to the NFL trading deadline and the use of the injured reserve, were tabled for further discussion and changes in May.