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Patriots submit three rule proposals

The New England Patriots have submitted three rule proposals to be discussed at next week's NFL owners meetings:

1. Broaden what can be challenged on instant replay (proposal No. 1). A coach would be allowed to challenge anything, including penalties. With scoring plays and turnovers already automatically reviewed by the NFL, this would broaden the scope of instant replay.

2. Fixed cameras on boundary lines (proposal No. 12). In a topic that coach Bill Belichick has discussed at length in recent years, the club proposes that fixed cameras would be positioned on all boundary lines (sideline, end line, goal line) to supplement camera angles provided by broadcast networks. This has long been viewed as more of a budget issue, and if owners are willing to make the investment, it would give coaches more certainty that there will be a reliable camera angle on instant replay. It would make it consistent in all venues.

3. Move the point after attempt to the 15-yard line (proposal No. 14). Self-explanatory, to make the point after attempt a more competitive play.

Of note is also a competition committee proposal (No. 23) that would require an eligible receiver who reports as ineligible be restricted to line up within the tackle box. This proposal comes after the Patriots declared eligible receivers ineligible in their AFC divisional round win over the Ravens three times, a strategy that sparked their come-from-behind victory.

Competition committee co-chairman Jeff Fisher explained that there was a "concern" among a number of clubs that "unless we had some guidelines in place, this thing may get out of hand."

Overall, there are 23 rule proposals to be discussed at the NFL's owners meeting. Of those 23, a total of 13 relate to instant replay. A total of 18 rule proposals were submitted by teams, while five were proposed by the competition committee.