Kickoff changes, tackling changes, trade deadline moved

Hip-drop tackles eliminated

NFL owners voted to outlaw the hip-drop tackle, a technique in which a player “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s legs at or below the knees.” The infraction will result in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down.

Eberflus isn’t concerned about the Bears defense having to adjust to the new rule.

“We’ve never taught that type of tackle,” he said. “We hit with the top of our pads … I think it’s a really good rule because I don’t want to lose offensive players because of that technique, and I think it’s really a good way to put it on the books to make sure they take that tackle out of the game.”

Eberflus doesn’t think it will be a difficult rule to officiate.

“I think when you see it, you’ll know it,” he said. “It’s like, ‘OK, that was it,’ because it’s the grab and swivel and then the weight release of the legs to drop on the lower extremities. I think you can clearly see it and I think the league is going to do a good job of officiating it and making sure they’re not going overboard with it, too.”

• A new bylaw will allow teams to receive a third instant replay review if they are correct with one of their first two challenges. In the past, a team had to win each of its first two challenges to receive a third.

• The trade deadline will be moved back one week to Week 9.

• There will be two games played on Christmas, even though it falls on a Wednesday.