Arizona Cardinals: NFL’s Annual Meeting in Phoenix
By Scott Allen
Representatives from the Arizona Cardinals and the other 31 NFL teams will gather together in Phoenix starting Sunday evening for the NFL’s Annual Meeting
Rules change proposals, league issues, and coaches meeting with the media are all on the docket at the 2019 NFL Annual Meeting that starts tonight in Phoenix and runs through Wednesday. This is the fourth time over the past seven years they’ve held the meeting in Arizona.
This means we could hear from new Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury on Tuesday morning during the NFL’s Coaches Breakfast. This will the the media’s opportunity to meet with coaches.
Among the proposals that will be under discussion this week are expansion of what can be reviewed under replay. There is also a proposal to allow coaches to challenge personal foul plays.
Part of the expansion being proposed would be to include pass interference and roughing the passer penalties. Inclusion of these rules seem like they would be very important based on how 2018 played out.
Early in 2018 we saw a number of very questionable roughing the passer plays. One in particular, cost the Green Bay Packers a win over the Minnesota Vikings. There was also a memorable missed pass interference call in the NFC Championship Game that ruled in favor of the Los Angeles Rams and helped propel them to the Super Bowl.
One rule change that could pass is the elimination of blind-side blocks. Certainly the elimination of this rule would help reduce concussions suffered during game play.
The expansion of instant replay seems inevitable. What is and isn’t included has a decent shot at passing but don’t be surprised if not a lot gets added and tabled for a later discussion. One thing is for sure, fans everywhere would like to seem some re-tooling.
Look for any changes that pass to be decided upon on Monday or Tuesday. We’ll keep you posted.