I wrote a column for the Trib about the NFL’s officiating problem. (To read, click HERE.) Let me add a P.S. and guess what the NFL might do:
The NFL will make pass interference a reviewable call. Each coach will still be allowed two challenges, getting a third if both the first two are successful. The games won't be any longer.
Since there’s no “definite” involved as with other reviews, the evidence to change a pass interference decision would have to be overwhelming.
That’s it, I hope. It shouldn’t be any more complicated than that.
Pass interference in the NFL should be a 15-yard penalty, like in college football. No penalty should move the ball 40-50 yards unless it involves a gun crime.
Reviewing a judgment call would break new ground. Replay has always been about finding a concrete truth. That’s not possible with pass interference. Although that non-call Sunday at New Orleans was as concrete as could be.
Why should pass interference be the only judgment call that merits review? A botched holding call can affect the outcome as easily as a bum pass interference decision. It’s arbitrary to say one judgment call is more important than the rest.