Pass interference reviews dropped

[trents]

All the commentaries say it was a miserable failure but don't say why. Anyone have a take on this?

[NorthHawk]

They didn’t use it as intended and it therefore failed. It’s what they wanted.

What they should do is add another member to the crew and have him or her sit
in the booth, but that Ref should also rotate onto the field regularly so they get
the trust of the others on the field.

[jshawaii22]

I'll assume that the refs didn't like being upstaged so often and I noticed that calls that we all knew should of been overturned weren't, especially later in the season.

What I do hope that they add is the "Sky Ref" who can directly communicate with the refs on the field and have the vision to make good calls that might be missed, which includes pass interference along with others. They haven't said if this sky ref will get the use of instant replay or just by watching from the booth.

[NorthHawk]

I'll assume that the refs didn't like being upstaged so often and I noticed that calls that we all knew should of been overturned weren't, especially later in the season.

What I do hope that they add is the "Sky Ref" who can directly communicate with the refs on the field and have the vision to make good calls that might be missed, which includes pass interference along with others. They haven't said if this sky ref will get the use of instant replay or just by watching from the booth.

Or overturn called penalties if they are wrong.

[EmeraldBullet]

All the commentaries say it was a miserable failure but don't say why. Anyone have a take on this?

The booth seemed to agree to not overturn any calls regarding pass interference so the new rule was pointless. I think Pete won a challenge and got a call overturned early in the season (week 1 or 2) but I think that was the only one I personally saw overturned the entire season.

[RiverDog]

All the commentaries say it was a miserable failure but don't say why. Anyone have a take on this?

The booth seemed to agree to not overturn any calls regarding pass interference so the new rule was pointless. I think Pete won a challenge and got a call overturned early in the season (week 1 or 2) but I think that was the only one I personally saw overturned the entire season.

Week 2 vs. Pittsburgh, and I was at the game. As I recall, it was a momentous game changer in a contest that we won. Coaches were using the rule as a Hail Mary of sorts, challenging a play when they were behind late in the game and had nothing to lose and everything to gain. As a result, officials reacted and didn't overturn a no call even on plays that, although perhaps not as obvious as Rams-Saints, were still pretty clear. George Kittle's PI no call late in the first half of the SB comes to mind. It was pretty damn obvious but came inside two minutes in the half where all challenges went to the booth when coaches can't challenge calls. The play wasn't even reviewed.

I always thought that the rule was ill advised, that the problem posed by the Rams-Saints game could have been resolved by an informal change in procedure rather than a formal rule. All they have to do is tell the booth to buzz down and have them stop the game and give the referees on the field, in conjunction with the booth, time to contemplate the play and make a decision whether or not they had missed something obvious. Of course, that wouldn't have fixed the Kittle PI no call, but it would have been better than the rule.

[Hawktawk]

Refs threw their tantrums and won. It was a joke, They could have made it work but they were opposed to it from the beginning. Expect the pushing and grabbing by both parties to get worse now.

[RiverDog]

Refs threw their tantrums and won. It was a joke, They could have made it work but they were opposed to it from the beginning. Expect the pushing and grabbing by both parties to get worse now.

It was an over reaction. Heck, the rule they made might not have even been able to fix the situation that happened in the Rams-Saints NFC Championship game as the controversial play came with less than two minutes to go in the game when all challenges go to the booth. It's conceivable that the replay booth might not have even stopped the game as happened in the Super Bowl with the George Kittle no call.

The coaches were the ones that turned it into a joke, throwing their Hail Mary challenge flags when they had nothing to lose. They should be able to address this through procedure rather than by the rule book. Just allow the game to be delayed by the replay booth for 30 seconds while the refs and the booth all huddle up and get the play called right.

I did hear an interesting proposal, adding a replay official as part of the refereeing crew.