The Chargers’ 36-14 win over the Colts on Sunday night really got blown open when Eric Weddle picked off a Peyton Manning pass and ran it back 41 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Now Colts coach Jim Caldwell says the NFL has told him the interception never should have counted.
Replays showed Weddle grabbing Reggie Wayne and knocking him off his route before the interception, and Caldwell now says the league office has informed him that, indeed, the officials missed a pass interference penalty on the play.
“[The NFL] said it should have been called,” Caldwell said, per the Indianapolis Star. “That wasn’t like it was a new revelation to anybody, I don’t think.”
Caldwell said the league didn’t apologize for the error.
“Sorry is not part of their response,” Caldwell said. “It’s just a declaration that, ‘We did indeed miss that one; it should have been called.’ ”
Now the question is whether Caldwell himself will be sorry for bringing it up. He could be fined by the league, first for saying “it was a bad call” after the game and now for publicly confirming that the league admitted it was a bad call. The NFL fined then-Vikings coach Brad Childress $35,000 for criticizing officials and disclosing what the league told him about the officiating this season, and Caldwell acknowledged that he could be in for the first fine of his career.