NFL Announces New Pass Interference Rule, Allowing Official Reviews In Final 2 Minutes

After last seasons’ NFC Championship where New Orleans Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis was pushed before receiving the ball late in the fourth quarter by Los Angeles Rams‘ corner Nickell Robey-Coleman, the Internet and Saints fans became exasperated that there wasn’t a pass interference call.

The replays showed a clear foul. Since there was under two minutes left in the game, Saints head coach Sean Payton couldn’t challenge the play. The Rams would go on later to win the NFC Championship and play in Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots. 

The NFL committee has cracked down on major issues involving pass interference calls in the final moments of games. Now, during the last two minutes of each half and during overtime, PI calls are reviewable, and the replay official can even stop the game to make a call or defer a call during the final two minutes.

The Thursday announcement gives NFL teams and coaches plenty of time to evolve to the new rule, even practicing those type of moments in late-game situations. The committee proposed the idea of letting coaches being able to challenge PI calls, but according to ESPN, the coaches didn’t want that as it would interfere with late-game timeout strategies.

According to Bleacher Report, a 31-1 vote from franchises proposed a rule for the 2019 season that would make both offensive and defensive pass inference calls subject to review.

The NFL committee wants to limit the amount of stoppage time during late-game situations. To combat that, the committee’s statement released on Twitter says that officials, “stricter criteria than for other reviewable plays,” according to ESPN.

To further combat the limit of stoppage time, “a decision on the field will only be reversed when there is ‘clear and obvious visual evidence’ that warrants a change,” the statement said, according to USA Today.

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Analysts are divided between the new rule, with some disagreeing with the committee saying that the stoppages of time and reviews are going to take too long.

Others wanting the rule that was denied by the coaches committee for challenges only instead commented on the review official stopping the play for calling a pass interference.