The NFL will now review pass interference calls and the decision couldn’t be worse.
I thought the NFL was smarter than this.
Sure, the league gets criticized all the time for decisions it makes, but the one thing I never thought they would do is start wrecking the game.
They can change things to make the game safer, they can tweak rules to make the game more exciting, but what the NFL owners decided to do yesterday is an absolute joke.
It doesn’t change the NFC Championshp game, but changes have been made: All offensive and defensive pass interference calls, as well as non-calls, now be challenged, per league source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 26, 2019
There it is kids, lesson learned, if you whine and complain and act like a petulant spoiled brat, you’ll get your way eventually. Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints took no blame in their loss to the LA Rams, instead, they decided to blame everything on one awful call (and yes, it was egregious).
But Sean Payton didn’t want to hear the fact that they still kicked a field goal that put them up three with 1:41 to go and yet they couldn’t stop the Rams from tying up the game. They didn’t want to hear the fact that they got the ball first in OT and that their all-time great QB Drew Brees threw an interception.
The Saints defense and offense both had a chance to win that game and they both blew it. I won’t even spend time talking about the poor decisions Payton made along the way. The Saints blew that game long after the officials did.
So they complained. And complained, and complained, and now we have this mess on our hands.
But, fans say, now we will get pass interference calls right! Yes, and while that will slow down the game, that’s not my issue, my issue is that the NFL has determined that pass interference matters and other penalties don’t.
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Let’s say the Chicago Bears have their opponents 4th and 10 at the end of the game and the Bears are up 4. QB drops back, Khalil Mack does his thing and is about to crush the QB, the guard comes out of nowhere and basically tackles him. QB throws a touchdown pass and the Bears lose. What can Matt Nagy do? Nothing. Because holding isn’t reviewable. Sorry, Bears fans, the refs missed the wrong call.
Now some supporter of this rule change will say- oh, you are just making up a hypothetical. These hypotheticals play out all the time. Mack had zero holding penalties called against him for the whole year. Go watch the tape. He’s held 25 times a game.
What about facemasks? Nope. What about a neutral zone infraction? Nope. Nothing else is reviewable except pass interference. So you’ll say the NFL will expand it to reviewing more penalties, which they probably will, but here’s the problem.
You cannot review holding. Ever.
That’s right, you can’t review holding. Why? Because there is always holding. There is holding on every play in the NFL. Almost all of them aren’t called. The refs try to just call egregious ones, but even they’ll let those slide sometimes if they aren’t directly affecting the play.
So what’s next? Judgement calls on holds? I can’t wait for those booth reviews. “After further review, the ruling on the field stands, there is no penalty. Number 52 was held, but not enough for us to change the ruling on the field.”
Also keep in mind, the NFL likes holding. That’s right. Their top commodities are quarterbacks, so if offensive lineman need to hold every once in a while to keep the QB upright, the NFL certainly won’t complain.
Reviewing NFL officiating for penalties is just idiotic. You cannot police it. I can’t believe the NFL is this stupid. Roger Goodell needed to tell Sean Payton to sit down and shut up. Instead, he gave a child having a temper-tantrum all the candy.
This is, without a doubt, the worst rule change the NFL has ever made. It’s a short-sided decision. It’s an overreaction.
The Saints were victims of a bad call, but they had opportunities to win that game, they just don’t want to admit it.
And now, because the Saints organization (and their fan base) aren’t man enough to accept responsibility for their mistakes, the game is now forever changed for the worse.