So why did officials kill the 49ers’ final drive with a tacky-tack offensive pass interference call on Thursday night? It’s possibly a result of the periodic reminders that the league office provides to game officials.
As one source explained it to PFT, the league routinely sends clips and memos to game officials pointing out missed calls from the prior week. This often leads to an overreaction, with the officials suddenly paying unreasonable attention to dynamics that previously had been policed less zealously.
With several questionable offensive pass interference calls on Sunday and continuing to Thursday, it’s possible that the league decided that too many offensive pass interference calls were missed in Week One, prompting the league office to emphasize offensive pass interference moving forward. Which resulted in the flag that effectively ended the 49ers’ comeback against the Rams.
