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The NFL owners voted this to approve a rule proposal that would allow a called OR non-called pass interference to be challenged during the game before the final two minutes of each half. In the final two minutes, it goes to booth review. Owners passed the proposal an overwhelming 31-1, as the Cincinnati Bengals were the only team to vote against the proposal.
According to Stephon Jones, a called OR non-called pass inference penalty can be challenged during the game before two minutes. After 2 minutes, it goes to booth reviews. Big change.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 26, 2019
The change came in the wake of an absurdly egregious no-call at the end of the NFC Championship game with the Saints facing third-and-10 on the Rams’ 13-yard line. Drew Brees’ pass to Tommylee Lewis was broken up by Nickell Robey-Coleman, who nearly speared Lewis well before the ball arrived. The Rams would escape one of the most obvious no-calls in NFL history, but the world would come back in balance after the NFL Competition Committee admitted that the Patriots should have been called for pass interference against Brandin Cooks in the Super Bowl that would have given the Rams the ball at the one-yard line.
The Saints finally got some form of justice for getting boned out of a Super Bowl appearance, and New Orleans’ official Twitter account expressed the team’s feelings on the rule change.
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) March 27, 2019
Now the real irony here would be if the Saints get screwed out of another Super Bowl appearance due to a pass interference challenge. I think at that point, Drew Brees would have to retire on the spot.