NFL admits pass interference replay rule 'failed miserably'

A missed pass interference call during the 2018 NFC Championship Game between the Saints and Los Angeles Rams was one of the worst noncalls in football history, and New Orleans head coach Sean Payton made sure his grievances were heard.

Following that game, the NFL implemented a rule allowing coaches to challenge pass interference in 2019, but it ended up causing too much confusion and controversy, so the league decided to scrap the idea for the upcoming campaign.

The NFL's vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, admitted to Pro Football Talk's Peter King that the league overreacted and didn't do enough research before implementing the new rule.

“Those outcomes were not good for professional football,” Vincent told King. “Because we didn’t do the proper due diligence, it played out publicly. The last thing people should be talking about is the way the game is officiated. They [officials] should be faceless objects, managing and facilitating game flow.

“We failed. I’m first in line. I shared that [with league officials]. I failed, as the leader of that department. I failed. We cannot allow that to happen again. What did we learn from that? We’ve got to do our due diligence. You can’t rush and just shove something in there without knowing all the consequences. And we found that out last year, live and in action, publicly. We didn’t do [our due diligence] last year, and we failed, and we failed miserably.”

The 2018 missed pass interference call likely cost the Saints a spot in the Super Bowl, and the NFL never heard the end of it, and quite frankly, they're still hearing about it from New Orleans fans who wanted to see Drew Brees win another title.

While the replay rule now is long gone, the NFL competition committee is considering adding a "sky judge" to every officiating crew, according to King. The new judge would be able to alert officials if they missed a blatant call or called something wrong.

The league also is considering a change to the onside kick rule that would allow teams to retain possession if they converted a fourth-and-15 play from their own 25-yard line. Many coaches and players have voiced their displeasure with that proposed change, and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has some mixed thoughts on the proposal... so there's really no telling which way the vote will lean.