NFL rules changes.

From the owners' meeting in Orlando, here are the changes in the rules for next year:

* Allowing down-by-contact calls to be reviewed by replay to determine if the ball came out before the ballcarrier was down, and who recovered it. In the past, those plays were not reviewable when officials ruled the whistle had ended the play.

* Prohibiting pass rushers from hitting a passer in the knee or below unless they are blocked into him. The officiating department showed low hits that caused serious injuries to Cincinnati's Palmer, the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and Tampa Bay's Brian Griese, although, in all cases, those would not draw penalties because the rushers were blocked in such a way that they could not avoid the hits.

* Toughening the horse-collar rule enacted last season. It now bans tacklers from taking down ballcarriers from the rear by tugging inside their jerseys. Last year's rule required that the tackler's hand get inside the runner's shoulder pads. Only two horse-collars were called in 2005, and the officiating department said one was an incorrect call.

* Prohibiting defensive players from lining up directly over center on field-goal and extra-point attempts to avoid injuries to long snappers.

The teams rejected a proposal aimed at cutting down illegal procedure penalties by eliminating such calls on players flanked outside the line of scrimmage who flinch without the defense reacting. A flinch will remain a 5-yard penalty.

The meetings adjourned with little action on finding a successor to commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who announced his retirement a week ago.

Tagliabue, who said he still thinks the next commissioner will be in place by his target date of July, will appoint a committee next week of six to eight owners. It, in turn, will hire a search firm that will interview all 32 owners on what they want in a new commissioner. (Thanks to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for the heads up.)