Jarrett Bell

USA TODAY Sports

It seems that the NFL is on the verge of a paradigm shift when it comes to instant replay.

Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL’s rule-making competition committee, told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday that the proposal team owners will consider next week will be largely built on a rewriting of the instant replay rule in an inverse fashion.

In other words, the existing rule is written to cover what types of plays are reviewable.

The new rule, if passed, will be written to legislate what plays cannot be reviewed.

Although it probably won’t squash arguments about whether you saw a catch, call it a first down toward the NFL’s aim to simplify the rulebook – for fans, players and coaches.

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“This is a step towards that,” McKay, the Atlanta Falcons president, told USA TODAY Sports. “What’s happened is there have been so many rules added over the years as situations have come up, the rulebook has become cumbersome. We’re addressing that.”

The proposed rule – which will also include an extension of the provision that Commissioner Roger Goodell mandated for the playoffs last season that allowed game officials to get help from NFL headquarters in reviewing administrative issues – will need approval from 24 owners during meetings in Charlotte on Tuesday.

One vote for will surely come from the Baltimore Ravens.

The competition committee’s proposal reflects a spirit of compromise, as it recognizes the proposal the Ravens withdrew earlier this week that sought to liberalize the types of plays allowed to be reviewed.

In the existing rule, at least 30 types of plays are allowed to be reviewed. Now, with the Ravens carrying a torch that gained momentum from coaches, the league is on the verge of a rule that will be easier to digest because there are roughly eight types of plays that can’t be reviewed.

“They pushed it in the right direction, no question,” McKay said of the Ravens. “I give coach (John) Harbaugh a lot of credit.”

Harbaugh’s proposal came from the same philosophical vein that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick had with his review-anything proposals in previous years.

The competition committee, which for many years has included Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, often worries about how new rules will affect the time of game that is essential to TV. In this case, it probably helps that the number of coaches challenges won’t change.

Nor will the proposed rule allow for penalties to be reviewed.

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The list of situations that can’t be reviewed will include pass interference, holding, illegal contact and other infractions.

So, no doubt, judgment calls are still in the game.

And so is the time-honored mantra: Just get it right. NFL officials make the right call at an overwhelmingly high rate. Then stuff happens.

Last season, the Seattle Seahawks won against the Detroit Lions in Week 4 when a fumble was illegally batted out of the end zone. The next week, the clock operator in San Diego failed miserably in crunch time. Mercifully, it didn’t cost the Pittsburgh Steelers the victory.

In Week 10, the Ravens lost when the Jaguars got an extra untimed down (boom, 53-yard field goal) after officials blew a call on a false start before a defensive penalties.

Harbaugh has maintained that there were five games last season determined by non-reviewable calls.

The proposed new replay rule won’t ensure perfection, but it represents progress and a better understanding of the rules.

Unless, of course, you’re looking for the ultimate definition of a catch.