Who can trigger a review on pass interference? Why NFL coaches are worried

Kevin Seifert

NFL Nation

As spring turns into summer, a fierce debate is raging among NFL decision-makers: Who should stop the game to review a potential pass interference penalty, and when?

The question might seem minor, but it pushes to the core of whether expanded replay can be effective at the NFL level. And for the second consecutive year, the league's competition committee is attempting to reverse-engineer a major rule change.

The new process for reviewing pass interference, approved by owners in March, followed the structure of the existing system. Coaches would challenge calls until the two-minute warning of either half, after which responsibility would be shifted to the on-site replay official. While coaches would be checked by the existing two-challenge limit -- plus a third if the first two were right -- the replay official could initiate reviews whenever necessary during the final two minutes and overtime.

Since then, however, concern has grown about the number of stoppages replay officials might feel compelled to make, especially with the addition of no-calls to the list of reviewable plays. Owners granted the competition committee authority last month to tweak the system, if needed, to extend the coaches' challenge for pass interference into the final two minutes and overtime.

But as it turns out, some coaches don't want that responsibility. During conference calls last week, according to multiple sources, some of them pushed back, in part because of the impact on timeout and challenge strategy. (A coach can't challenge if he's out of timeouts.) This response mirrors the proposal most coaches advocated in March -- to convert the replay official into a "sky judge" who would alert the on-field referee whenever an egregious mistake was made.