The NFL this morning approved a rule change that could potentially allow coaches to challenge pass interference calls and non-calls in the last two minutes of a half or game. As with most tweaks to the league’s rulebook, this one’s likely going to create even more confusion. Are you ready for some Hail Mary controversies?!?
Back in March, the league voted to permit coaches’ challenges outside of the final two minutes, with anything inside two minutes reviewable at the discretion of the official up in the booth. But coaches have reportedly been telling Al Riveron, the league’s senior VP of officiating, that they fear the possibility of the replay official calling for endless reviews at the end of games. Naturally, the league is prepared with a fix that it thinks will fix what it thought it had already fixed:
All the league’s done so far is empower the competition committee to change the rule. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that Riveron is expected to speak to coaches on June 4 and 5, after which a final decision will be made. But a league that spent nearly 20 years defining a catch into incoherence now thinks it can easily legislate what constitutes a Hail Mary? What could possibly go wrong?