2007 NFL Rule & Schedule Changes

New York, NY (Sports Network) - The NFL has announced its 17-week, 256-game regular-season schedule for 2007 and it will kick off on Thursday, September 6 when the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts host the New Orleans Saints.

Kickoff weekend also features 13 Sunday games, highlighted by the prime-time matchup of NFC East rivals Dallas and the New York Giants at Texas Stadium. The Giants will play the Sunday night opener for the second straight season after last year's Manning Bowl against the Colts.

Sunday's action also includes a pair of big division rivalries. The New England Patriots visit the New York Jets in a playoff rematch from last season and the Cleveland Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Another featured game on the opening Sunday has NFC champion Chicago at San Diego.

For the second straight season, the opening Monday night has a doubleheader with Baltimore visiting Cincinnati and San Francisco hosting Arizona.

In addition to the season-opener, the Colts will be featured at least twice more on prime-time, as they are also slated to play at AFC South rival Jacksonville on Monday, October 22 and at Atlanta on Thanksgiving night.

The New England Patriots, Indy's chief rivals of late, are scheduled for a visit to the RCA Dome on November 4. The Colts, who beat the Patriots for the AFC crown last season, will follow that game with a trip to San Diego to face last season's top regular-season team.

Flexible scheduling is also back for a second straight year, ensuring that Sunday night games feature quality matchups. The Colts, or a surprise team, could be late-season additions to the prime-time schedule on NBC for Weeks 11 through 17.

The league has tentatively scheduled Sunday night games this season, a switch from last year when the game was not revealed until 12 days before the scheduled contest. The 12-day window to make a change in the prime-time NBC game for the last seven weeks -- six days for the final week -- is again an option if the league and network so desire.

A playoff rematch between San Diego and New England, this time at Foxboro, is the highlight of the Week 2 schedule for Sunday night.

Byes begin on the season's fourth weekend, which also features a number of potential top matchups. That Sunday, September 30 includes a pair of AFC heavyweight tilts with Denver at Indianapolis and Kansas City at San Diego, while the Sunday night game pits Philadelphia at the New York Giants and the Monday night matchup has Cincinnati hosting New England.

A rematch of Super Bowl XL between Seattle and Pittsburgh is set for the Steel City on October 7 and the following Monday night has Dallas and new coach Wade Phillips visiting Buffalo, Phillips' old team.

October 28 includes the first NFL regular-season game in Europe, as the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants meet in London.

The last two NFC champions meet on Sunday night, November 18 when the Seahawks host the Bears. That weekend is the first for flexible scheduling.

Thanksgiving features the traditional games hosted by Detroit and Dallas. The Lions will welcome NFC North rival Green Bay, while the New York Jets visit the Cowboys. That weekend's Sunday night matchup is scheduled to be a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX when Philadelphia visits New England, and the Monday night contest features Miami linebacker Joey Porter against his old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The last Sunday of the regular season includes an NFC Championship Game rematch when the New Orleans Saints again visit the Chicago Bears, while the tentative Sunday nighter has Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herman Edwards visiting his old team, the New York Jets.

Wild card weekend is set for January 5-6, with the Divisional playoffs the following weekend. The AFC and NFC championship games will be played Sunday, January 20 and the Super Bowl, which will be carried by FOX this season, is scheduled for February 3 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Rule Changes

A number of playing-rules changes were adopted by NFL owners at the NFL Annual Meeting in late March. The following are the changes released earlier this week, with comments from the co-chairman of the NFL Competition Committee, Rich McKay:


• INSTANT REPLAY: Made a permanent rule. “We think instant replay has been an accepted part of our game now for a number of years,” says McKay. “It’s worked quite well.” Also, high-definition replay equipment will be installed in NFL stadiums.


• INSTANT REPLAY: Also made permanent in the replay system were “down-by-contact” as a reviewable play and each review being limited to a maximum of 60 seconds.


• SPIKING OF BALL: It will now be a five-yard penalty for a player to spike or throw the ball after a down has ended, except for after a touchdown. “We did not think this type of spiking was good for sportsmanship or the administration of the game by officials,” says McKay.


• PLAYER SAFETY: It will now be a 15-yard penalty (rather than five yards) for a player to make a block below the waist against an eligible receiver while the quarterback is in the pocket. Also, when a player who receives the snap fumbles or muffs the ball; the restrictions on the defensive team relative to illegal contact and an illegal cut-block will end.


• TWO-MINUTE WARNING/10-SECOND RUNOFF: The requirement that the offense has to be behind in the score or the score has to be tied for a 10-second clock runoff to be exercised against the offense for an excess timeout with two minutes to go in the first half or in the game has been eliminated. Now a 10-second runoff will take place no matter what the game situation. Any possible advantage for the offense (e.g., the old rule would not require a 10-second runoff if it were ahead) has been eliminated. The defense has the option to decline a 10-second runoff (which will give it more time should it get the ball back).


• CLOCK STOPPAGE: Two exceptions were added to the rule that dictates that the play clock be restarted at the time at which it was stopped prior to the snap. Now an instant replay review prior to the two-minute warning will reset the clock at 25 seconds (as has been the case with other stoppages such as a penalty), as will an instant replay review after the two-minute warning that results in a reversal. These changes will make the administration of the rule more consistent.


• PACE OF GAME: The foul for unintentional touching of a forward pass by an interior lineman has been eliminated. It was felt that no advantage was gained by the offense on such a play, and elimination of the rule would speed up the game.


• CROWD NOISE: The five-yard penalty against the defense for excessive crowd noise has been eliminated. The penalty had not been called in many years. Although they are not playing-rule changes, two procedures for coaching employment also were changed:


• Assistant coaches on Super Bowl teams may now interview for a second time with a club for its head-coaching position during the off-week after the championship game. “We wanted to make sure that coaches on Super Bowl teams did not feel it was a disadvantage,” says McKay.


• Clubs now have the exclusive right to an assistant coach’s contract through the second Tuesday after their season has ended or last playoff game, rather than the third Tuesday as in the past.