Buffalo Bills Rule Proposal Shot Down by NFL Owners

Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey tried his best on Tuesday to propose a NFL rule change, but a majority of owners didn't buy what he was selling.

Gailey's proposal, in the interest of saving time, was to take reviews out of the hands of the head official on the field and put the entire decision making process into the laps of officials in the booth.  

The Bills believe that a lot of pressure is put on the head official and precious time is wasted when he has to analyze numerous play angles, before coming up with a final decision.  Hence, the game is stopped and coaches, players and fans grow impatient.

Unfortunately for the Bills, the current review procedures will stand, but other rules they were hoping to alter will change.

One of them has to do with the reviews of turnovers on the field, which has made for some high drama among coaches.  In the past, a coach had to decide on challenging a turnover and losing a challenge if it was not overturned.  

According to CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco, "all turnovers will be reviewed beginning in 2012. That means challenges will not be used for any turnovers or scoring plays beginning next season."

Another NFL rule change has to do with overtime.

Prisco reported that "new overtime rules instituted for postseason football last year will now be applied to the regular season as well."  

It allows both teams to have a chance to possess the ball in overtime, unless a touchdown is scored on the first possession (after the coin flip).  If the first team with the ball kicks a field goal or fails to score, the other will gain possession of the ball with a chance to tie the game or win it with a touchdown.  If the game remains tied after each team has had one possession, the overtime will change to sudden death.  

Three other changes to current rules were made.

If a player is crack-blocked, the player is now considered a defenseless player.  A dead ball foul will now be called if there is too many men on the field and if a player kicks a loose ball, the foul will accrue a loss of down for his team.

And finally, pass rushers were given a reprieve for the way they sack signal callers.  A proposal that would have made it illegal to horse collar a quarterback in the pocket got rejected.  So, quarterbacks will have to watch their backs, because getting grabbed by the collar or shoulder pads will remain legal for now.