
Because the Saints just got jobbed out of a trip to the Super Bowl because of a missed pass interference call, and because we have 12 more days to fill until then, there will be plenty of talk about the feasibility of using replay review to fix an obvious problem for the NFL.
While other leagues are able to find a solution without lengthening their games, there remains a resistance to opening that particular box for fear that Pandora and all her meddling friends will wreck the game.
According to Lindsay Jones of The Athletic, Broncos executive John Elway (a member of the league’s competition committee) is among the skeptics.
“You can’t replay every pass interference,” Elway said. “It won’t work.”
Replaying and reviewing every pass interference call probably wouldn’t. Giving coaches the opportunity to challenge selected calls to make sure a game isn’t decided incorrectly could probably be worked out without tearing at the very fabric of the game.
But the inertia of the way things are will make it hard to find a solution to this problem, as some may not be inclined to fiddle with the rulebook, if only for the fear of making things worse.