Eagles

Eagles Submit Two Rule Change Proposals for 2019 Season

By
Paul Bowman
Author photo
Paul Bowman Sports Editor

Penn State Great Valley MBA, Penn State Berks Undergrad, Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor, IT Service Manager. I joined Sports Talk Philly in 2017 and root for all the Philly teams (as well as their minor league counter parts).

All posts by Paul Bowman
Sports Editor

Published08 Mar 2019

Disclosure
We sometimes use affiliate links in our content, when clicking on those we might receive a commission – at no extra cost to you. By using this website you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Embed from Getty Images

By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The NFL Competition Committee meets every offseason to decide whether the league will have rule changes and, if so, what they will be. The most notable changes to come out of last year’s meetings were those that change the way kickoffs were handled by lining players up evenly without them getting a running start.

The Eagles submitted two rule change proposals according to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philly.

Both submissions have to do with the use of replay reviews.

The first, which was also submitted by the Rams, Seahawks and Panthers, would allow the use of challenges on “player safety-related fouls”. The rule change would allow teams to throw a challenge when a roughing the passer or unnecessary roughness call is missed. Considering how much uproar New Orleans made about a missed call pushing them out of the playoffs, it is odd that they too did not put support in for this change.

For the Eagles, the cause of their support likely comes from the blatant horse collar/facemask tackle by Jadeveon Clowney on Nick Foles at the end of the Texans game.

On the other side, the rule would also allow teams to challenge calls that were made that are not there. The roughing the passer penalties that Clay Matthews received the first few weeks of the season would be prime examples of plays that would be challengeable if the rule change passed.


The second suggestion, submitted by the Eagles alone, would cause scoring plays and fumbles that are negated by fouls to be reviewed automatically. While turnovers and scoring plays are already reviewed, fouls on these plays are not.

The cause for this submission has to be the 75-yard touchdown reception Dallas Goedert had called back against the Cowboys because of a phantom offensive pass interference call.

Should this change be made, this play would be automatically reviewed and the referees could see that, not only did Goedert not commit a foul, but the Cowboys commit two head-to-head penalties. The review would have negated the phantom foul and given the Eagles the touchdown they deserved.