The NFL's pass-interference problem: What makes replay review so tricky

Kevin Seifert                    NFL Nation

A replay remedy is now available if an NFL official misses a defensive back plowing into a receiver two seconds before the ball arrives. That's the easy part of adding pass interference calls (and no-calls) to the league's replay system on a one-year trial basis.

The hard part, of course, is navigating the dozens of other plays per game that involve clear contact but fall short of the mauling we saw at the end of the NFC Championship Game. What will the NFL do about those plays? How will it define a "clear and obvious" restriction on playing the ball, one that will guide its resolve to overturn decisions on the field?

The league is racing against time to establish that standard, a task that represents one of the most difficult hurdles in the history of league officiating. During the next few months, league executives must nail down an objective dividing line for a subjective judgment, a tightrope that would allow them to correct obvious mistakes while not disrupting the rest of the game. The process has begun with a series of team visits by senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron this spring and will ramp up next week when referees and their crews meet for their first offseason clinic.

These offseason efforts largely will dictate whether the NFL's replay expansion will survive its experimental first season or be crushed by skeptical coaches, players and fans.

"We're trying so hard to get every call right," Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden said recently. "But I think the harder we try, the more we might make this very difficult."