A big non-call on a pass interference by Nickell Robey-Coleman played a big factor in last year’s NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, helping propel the Rams to the Super Bowl.
While the play didn’t decide the game as the Saints still have plenty of opportunities to win after the fact, it still caused outrage in New Orleans throughout the league, so much so that if forced a rule change for the 2019 season.
All offensive and defensive pass interference calls, as well as non-calls, are now reviewable. Coaches will be able to challenge it, and as always, it will become a booth review in the last two minutes of a half. This rule is only in place for the 2019 season, serving a bit as a test.
Rams wide receiver Robert Woods commented on the new changes, saying that wide receivers are going to put pressure on referees to throw the flag since they are being interfered with more often than not, via Clarence Dennis of TheRams.com:
“I just might be. They put that rule in, they’re going to call it, they’re going to have that review, I know there’s contact from a DB on every single play past five yards, so we are going to put pressure on the defensive backs, put the pressure on the referees — make them make the call.”
Woods feels that the rule change is a very significant one that will greatly affect the end of games:
“I think it’s very critical, especially in crunch time. There’s going to be a lot of situations that come up like this — there’s a lot of contact, a lot of hand fighting going on throughout the play,” Woods said. “Especially if it comes down to a ‘Hail Mary’ with eight guys tussling over one ball, we’ll see how they call it then.”
It will be interesting to see how often pass interference or non-calls get challenged because as Wood alluded to, defenders often make illegal contact with receivers on almost every play.
