Competition Committee Finalizes Pass Interference Replay Challenge Rule

On Thursday, the Competition Committee of the NFL finalized a new rule for pass interference reviews deciding against several suggested adjustments to the existing rule and upholding wording owners had approved originally in March.

The final decision allows coaches the right to challenge both calls and no-calls for pass interference until the two-minute warning of each half. During the final two minutes of either half and overtime, replay officials on-site will be the parties responsible for stopping a game to review, as they are for any other play that is reviewable.

The new rule covers just the 2019 season. Following the season, NFL owners will decided to extend, adjust or eliminate it for the 2020 season.

Members of the committee were concerned about the additional stoppages of play during the last few minutes of a half or game, and had considered prohibiting the replay officials from stopping play to review a pass interference call or no call.

Instead, the responsibility of that would have been with coaches, but several coaches pushed back against the idea, worried it would impact their strategy for timeouts, as challenges can only be made when a team has timeouts remaining.

In addressing concern over stoppages, the committee instructed replay officials to have “stricter criteria” on stopping a game for a pass interference review.

The NFL released a video on Twitter that said “clear and obvious evidence” that pass interference may or may not have occurred was needed to stop play for a review.

The committee is also allowing for reviews of Hail Mary plays, as long as they fall under the guidelines for officiating the play. Those plays typically include a great deal of contact between receivers and the defense but a pass interference call is rarely made in that situation.

It is expected that play will be rarely stopped if ever to review a possible interference or no interference call on a Hail Mary under the new rule.