NFL interference rules under scrutiny as instant replay enters conversation
Pass interference will now be reviewable all game long starting in 2019. But will players and officials be ready to adapt by the start of the regular season?
The NFL preseason schedule might be too long to some factions. For one "team," which wears black and white stripes, it might not be long enough this summer.
A new system that will involve replay reviews on pass interference calls is accompanied by some kinks to get worked out by officiating crews. So, while lobbying continues for a reduction of exhibitions in future years to as few as two per squad, the refs might welcome an expanded schedule in the short term to figure out this puzzle before the real games begin.
As a result of an intense push from head coaches, team owners hesitantly voted to open pass interference reviews to entire games. (The specifics were hammered out in recent days.) Coaches can issue challenges before the final two minutes of each half, then the replay folks decide whether check the footage themselves.
CBS SPORTS: OFFSEASON GRADES FOR ALL 32 NFL TEAMS
The trial period is necessitated by a requirement from the league's Competition Committee to apply "stricter criteria" than for other scenarios that are reviewable. The evidence, it said, must be "clear and obvious" for replay officials to take a look.
What that means is anybody's guess. So the four weeks (plus Hall of Fame Game) of preseason encounters ideally will enable crews to determine where to set the bar for plays that meet the standards for review.
SPORTSLINE: WEEK 1 PICKS FROM ADVANCED COMPUTER MODEL
Clarity is attainable by opening kickoff of the regular season if a similar concern in 2018 applies. This time a year ago, the NFL universe was fretting how freshly passed rules that prohibited players from lowering their helmets to make contact would be enforced. It became a mini-crisis averted as athletes, coaches and droppers of penalty flags adapted sooner than anticipated.
CBS SPORTS: PETE PRISCO'S TOP 100 PLAYERS FOR 2019
With pass interference, coaches scored a small victory by persuading the committee to relieve them of responsibility in the last two minutes of halves. Originally, they would have had to submit challenges. Concerned about losing timeouts, they convinced the league that replay officials should make the call on reviews.
For now, the policy is in place for one year only. Next offseason, the review system will ... be reviewed.