Everyone knows it was wrong. The NFL has suggested it will explore the possibility of correcting the wrongness in the future.
Of course, a solution exists, and has worked — in Canada.
John Kryk of the Toronto Sun does a good job of explaining the CFL’s version or replay rules in this story, an idea which could have been of benefit to the Saints when an obvious and non-called pass interference penalty cost them a chance to advance to the Super Bowl.
In the CFL, coaches have the ability to challenge pass interference calls, with some limitations. Teams aren’t able to challenge the NFL equivalent of defensive holding near the line of scrimmage, but do have one challenge per game (as long as they have a timeout) which would apply to situations such as Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman whacking Saints receiver Tommyleee Lewis in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
And while some have concerns about the time of game getting out of hand by expanding replay, games have actually gotten shorter in Canada since they adopted a revised set of replay rules in 2017.
According to the CFL, during the 2014 the average duration of a game was 2:55 (not including overtime games). In 2017, when rules were revised to limit reviews to one per game, it was 2:50, and last season it was 2:51. Teams averaged 2.22 challenges per game in 2016, but just 0.88 per game in 2018.
If the NFL adopted such a change, and used a bit of foresight to implement it (though that isn’t the NFL’s strong suit), it offers a reasonable chance to solve a significant problem.