PEREIRA SENDS MIXED SIGNALS ABOUT REPLAY REVIEW

We’ve been flooded with e-mails from readers who have pointed out to us that NFL V.P. of officiating Mike Pereira has supported the decision of referee Walt Coleman to award via replay review a touchdown to the Steelers, even though the call on the field had not done so. Here’s what an NFL spokesman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Walt Coleman determined via high-def video review that the receiver had possession and two feet down with the ball in the goal line, meaning it broke the plane.” The spokesman (who is unnamed in the Post-Gazette article) also said that Pereira backed the call. The fact that Pereira is periodically willing to take issue with his officials, however, does not mean that we should always assume that Pereira is right whenever he supports them. I know plenty of lawyers who are very adept at conceding what they must concede in order to have greater credibility on closer questions, and it’s entirely possible that Pereira uses that same style, intentionally or otherwise. But Coleman’s job wasn’t to determine whether he thought it was a touchdown. Coleman’s job was to determine whether there was indisputable visual evidence to overturn the call. Given the extent of the dispute regarding the call, it’s indisputable that there was not indisputable visual evidence. Moreover, by defending the call this way, the league office has invited the sixteen other referees to replace with their own decisions the real-time judgments of the members of their crews. Finally, we’re encouraged by the fact that Tom Jackson of ESPN agrees with us. Cue the Steelers fans who’ll write in the comments that Jackson is a Denver homer who simply hates the Steelers.