In response to the extraordinarily blatant missed call in this past NFC Championship Game between the Saints and Rams, the NFL has announced that they will be reviewing this offseason whether to make pass interference penalties reviewable. Although I agree that in this particular instance a foul should have been called, it creates a slippery slope in which it will be hard to recover from should it become a rule.
First off, that was a missed call which has been noted by the NFL and the officials of that game. If you haven't seen the play, it was a 3rd down pass play that if called, would have essentially given the Saints the victory and sent them to the Super Bowl.
Pass interference penalties are usually one of two kinds: "bang-bang" where it happens so close to when the ball gets there that its hard to tell, or obvious where, you guessed it, it's obvious there should be a penalty.
One thing you should know about me, I am a fan that understands the rules of the game and will agree with a penalty when called, even if that penalty is called on the Bucs. I cannot stand when there is an obvious penalty on the home team and the crowd starts booing, those fans don't understand the game in my opinion.
That being said, it was a penalty on the Rams.
So now for the point of this article.
If the NFL this offseason were to come out and say all pass interference penalties, both called and not called, are to be reviewed, there will either have to be very strict language in the rule stating what exactly is being reviewed or be prepared to accept the consequences they will unleash.
If they only want to review called pass interference (PI) penalties, that's fine, whatever. But to stop play, either by booth or coaches challenge, and try to determine if there should have been a penalty, that's where the problem ensues. You can watch anything in slow motion and see exactly when contact was initiated and who started it. By using slow motion, you are a million times more likely to call the penalty because it's hard to dispute. Remember when I mentioned "bang-bang" plays? Yeah, they don't exist anymore when it comes to PI. You'll be able to see exactly when the defender or receiver made contact .102 seconds before the ball arrived, thus a penalty is called.
That's why I stated that if there were a rule to come out, there has to be very strict language. You're already putting it into the head of the ref that there should be a penalty they missed, so he'll be more inclined to find when it occurred. That's why I would recommend that the replay be shown in real time and have the referee whose area it occurred in be there to discuss what he or she saw. Using real time will allow those "bang-bang" plays to stay in the game and allow for a more physical defender we're losing every year from new rules.
What about that slippery slope and consequences I mentioned?
Why stop at PI penalties? Let's review that there was a holding penalty. Or watch the offensive lineman move just before the ball snapped. Or other minor penalties that will null the down had there been a big play.
See where this can get bad?
Now of course the NFL will most certainly write in the rule, if there will be one, that it only applies to PI penalties or whatever else they want and nothing more. But how will they allow a review to occur is the next issue.
Will a coach have to challenge it? Will it count as one of the two challenges they get in a game? Or will they only have the booth/New York stop play and look at it? These are questions that make it all the more complicated.
So, in short, there has to be guidelines in place for this to even become a thing. Maybe use this offseason for language then preseason to try it out, then revisit next offseason to tighten it up. But we're still a long way from having it as a real rule.
I get that this whole thing is being sparked up by Saints fans and players, but it's all still complicated. Let's cool off for a bit before anything happens, for now.
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