The NFL has formalized the language of the rule governing pass interference reviews for the 2019 season, which means the next step will be seeing how the implementation of the rule impacts the game.
Officials spoke to coaches and the Competition Committee as the rule was being debated this offseason and they’ll have another opportunity to weigh in at an officiating clinic next month. The process has left many questions, however, and how things will play out in the final two minutes of each half when the booth calls for reviews is at the top of that list.
The league has said the standard for initiating reviews of pass interference fouls and/or non-calls will be higher than for other reviewable aspects, but NFL Referees Association head Scott Green believes the preseason will see officials erring on the side of stopping the game as everything gets sorted out.
“But this thing has sort of been moving pretty quickly, and it’s not just the official on the field, it’s the replay official in New York as well, and how fast they can pick up a play they want to look at,” Green said, via Albert Breer of SI.com. “As everything gets to be more technical, you have to be careful. And as it gets more technical, you start to wonder, ‘Where is this leading to?’ And there’s concern over length of game, how many different things are going to be stopped. I suspect in preseason you’ll see a lot more stoppages as they play through it. It obviously has got everybody’s attention”
We’ve seen other rules changes lead to a flurry of flags in past preseasons before adjustments were made on or off the field in order to ensure they didn’t have an undue impact on games. Whether this is another one of those cases will be a lead storyline for this August’s games.
