Pass Interference Penalties

A lot of umpires in a lot of games "want" to give the big play or throw the flag for the big interference call. As if in some way this makes the game more exciting.

i touched on this in the mtch thread,seems to me that the first pass interference call sets the tone for the match and if its a bad one you can expect a few more to turn up in the game.
I've seen blatant arm holding and tackling prior to an attempted catch receive nothing at all and other times the slightest bit of contact can result in a flag,its an absolute nighmare because its one of the harshest penalties a team can draw.

It seems that the longer the pass attempt then the more likely that a PI call will be made

Sometimes noting worse than a tangle of legs will be called fro PI

I'm pretty sure it's not reviewable on a coach's challenge either

no,if it was we'd have seen it monday,all boils down to interpretation so no hard and fast rules with which to appeal against

fp the refs its also one of the hardest to spot, if 2 people are going for the same thing and roughly same height, there is always going to be contact, especially long throw . . . also with 1? ref to call it, the secondarys know to put their body in the way, or at least contact the guy on the other side . . .

hardest to call and because of that there is no consistency, but if it were another sport, there would be diving and stuff which would be sad to see, but good to see the macho element of the sport would see divers probably beaten up badly

its a tough call to make for the zebras imo....especially when they have to decide if the player has turned round to see the ball before putting his hands on the receiver or to bat the ball down

Fair points but if it was reviewable then at least we might see some poor calls reversed

The zebras seem to have chilled out a bit compared to last year...didnt catch the GB-Balt game, but heard it was the most penalised game since the 1950's. So probably a bit of a knee jerk reaction here.

For years the NFL has been bringing in rules to suit 'offencive' football. It makes it v hard to play man coverage, I can see almost ever team moving to zone soon, its a major shame. Its great watching a CB trying to cover an elite WR in man.

I've always thought the point of contact part was a bit unfair as well.
A team just throwing up a bomb can get a 50yd penalty for a dubious call - I would rather see a standard 15yds

I seem to remember that in Sub Section 1 of the Pass Interference rule it says and I quote.

In all Play Off games "JUST LET THEM PLAY FOOTBALL!" Seems you can get away with just abit more in a Playoff game shame they cant let a bit more go in normal games, maybe make the bump zone 10yds and or the 1st down marker.

Dont think you can make pass interference just 15 yds to many defenders would giveit up every time instead of a home run play, you could however make it 15 yds with the double whammy that the defender cant play any more downs in that SERIES!

I agree CJ. So many pass int calls on deep passes. It makes the deep pass such a good value play; and of course they hardly ever call it against the receiver.

That's the biggest negative about American Football for me; the referees have so much influence throughout the game, and often the biggest talking points are refereeing decisions. They don't like to leave anything open to interpretation so they have to draw the line somewhere, and often this means any contact = penalty; for example when a pass rusher grazes the QB's helmet after a pass.

most corners cant cover the fastest receivers....they know the rules and most of the time they get the flag for being too slow or putting the hands on without turning round for the ball....the good corners wait for the receiver to put his hands up and then rake the hands with good timing.

now you are seeing the best CBs stand out imo

Some of the no-calls against Baltimore were literally unbelieveable on MNF.

A couple of arm-bars were called but at least 2 weren't

We were by far the 2nd best team however.

good corners are worth their weight in gold,not enough of them in the nfl to my mind which is why you constantly see qb's putting up huge numbers,harrys right about the speed thoiugh,deion sanders and darryl green are the best i've ever seen and its no coincidence they were the fastest players around in their day.

Can't always be the case of slow / poor corners, Green Bay have some of the very best coverage in the league in Woodson, and Collins. Monday night was bordering on a joke.

Best CB in the league right now is Darelle Revis. Held Randy Moss to barely 60 yards in TWO games this year. He got that pretty much in ONE Play last last week v Miami!

Held an on-fire TO to 31 last week (had received for near 300 yards across the previous two games!)

Just watching this guy develop and dominate his WRs has been the highlight of this up-down year for the Jets

Nnamdi is the best, you dont always see it because of no pass rush and no other help.

CJ 10 Dec 21:22


Can't always be the case of slow / poor corners, Green Bay have some of the very best coverage in the league in Woodson, and Collins. Monday night was bordering on a joke.

the 2 you mentioned are not quick enough to cover the fastest guys...woodson strength is anticipation and jumping on routs...

we're in the sporing psyche !
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12647887/fixing-passinterference-calls-15-yards-at-time

would like to thank referee Walt Anderson and his crew for reminding us this week what's wrong with the NFL: the pass-interference penalty. There is no way it should cost anyone more than 15 yards.

It doesn't in college, and it shouldn't in the pros.

But it does, so we have Coleman's crew last Monday walking off nine pass-interference calls for 205 yards, and that's not right. There is no way one penalty should change the outcome of a game, but the pass-interference call can. It can cost you 15 yards. It can cost you 20. It can cost you 30. Or it can cost you 41, as it did Green Bay on Monday, setting up Baltimore's second touchdown.


Tramon Williams makes a pick Monday, but earlier was flagged three times for 106 yards. (AP)
Somebody please explain.

"They hold us to a higher standard because we're professional athletes," said New York Giants cornerback Terrell Thomas. "If you commit a foul then it's going to cost you."

That I understand. What I don't understand is that if you commit a foul other than pass interference it won't cost you more than 15 yards. Look what happened in last Sunday's Dallas-Giants game: At the end of the first half, Cowboys offensive tackle Flozell Adams belted an unsuspecting Justin Tuck from behind. He was flagged for a personal foul and penalized 15 yards.

Period.

Yes, he later was fined $50,000. He should have been, especially considering his history of -- how shall we put this? -- transgressions. But his team wasn't fined for a cowardly and potentially dangerous hit on Tuck. It was penalized 15 yards, a call the Giants declined.

But let's say Thomas was caught shielding a receiver from the football with his forearm, or the Cowboys' Terence Newman bumped his opponent off a pass. Then what happens? Uh-huh, it could have cost their clubs more, way more, than 15 yards.

It did at the end of the Detroit-Cleveland game last month. There was a pass-interference call in the end zone on what should have been the final play, and the Browns were penalized 31 yards. That extended the contest one snap, and that one snap cost Cleveland a victory. It lost on a 1-yard touchdown pass. Final score: Detroit 38, Cleveland 37.

"You see [pass interference] called more because the NFL is about scoring points," said Cincinnati safety Chris Crocker. "People want to see a lot of points. If the point total was down from the previous year the following year there are going to be a lot of pass interference or illegal contact calls because that will be a point of emphasis. That's just how it is."

That is one man's opinion. It is not mine. I believe you should have a level playing field, and having one call cost you 40 or 50 yards is not what I call equitable -- particularly when that call is what the Giants' Domenik Hixon termed "a judgment decision." Hixon is diplomatic. This is one of those topics where one man's ceiling is another man's floor, with pass interference subject to an official's interpretation. What Coleman's crew may see as pass interference, another may not.

Poll
What should the penalty be for pass interference calls?
15 yards
Spot of the foul




"I have mixed feelings about that rule," said New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. "It makes you much better in your technique [but] it gives the offense and the wide receiver a huge advantage over us. We're mimicking them, yet we don't know where the ball is because our backs are to them. If we went to the college rule offenses wouldn't be scoring that much, and stats wouldn't be as high."

Offenses today score at prodigious rates, with New England averaging 36.8 points per game two years ago and New Orleans averaging 36.7 this season. Quarterbacks are producing 300-yard games at dizzying speed, too, with 82 of them this season -- nearly seven per week. Don't tell me they need pass-interference calls to help pad those numbers because they don't. They're getting there on their own.

There is something else going on: The presumption with pass interference is that the receiver would have caught the ball were he not impeded. But I don't know that that's the case. In fact, I saw Braylon Edwards drop a certain touchdown last week with nobody within 15 yards of him. Three days later, I saw Nate Washington do the same thing after he ran past the Indianapolis secondary.

"Those DBs just have to get their heads around," said Cincinnati receiver Chad Ochocinco. "You get your head around, you don't have to touch [the receiver] at all. If you're very good at locating the ball you don't have to turn your head.

"They use their arms and they hold and they grab and they keep us from catching the ball instead of playing [their positions] the right way. It's cool to feel where the receiver is, but you have to look back for the ball. When you don't that's when the penalty comes in."

So, then, he's OK with, say, a 50-yard penalty?

"At this level, yeah," he said.

I'm not -- especially at this level. Make the rules uniform. If a defensive lineman belts his opponent in the head he is penalized 15 yards. Simple as that. But if a defensive back hand checks a receiver on a deep ball he may or may not get penalized. And if he is, the cost could be 40 or 50 yards. I don't get it. I don't think the NFL does, either, and thank you for reminding us, Walt Anderson.

"It's kind of like a guy driving to the basket," said San Diego coach Norv Turner. "One time he gets hammered, makes the shot and nothing is called. The next time he's barely touched and is going to the foul line for two free throws.

"There are some pass-interference calls you want to be 50-yarders -- say, where the [receiver] is behind the secondary and is pulled down. But there are some that you don't. The problem is: How do you differentiate between the two?"

You don't. You just make the call 15 yards and leave it at that.

comes back to what we've been talking about,the most severe penalty in the game shouldn't be down to interpretation.............the rule needs changing or at least considered for change.

I guess the issue then becomes - if you're about to get torched (as a CB/FS/SS) then the best thing to do is tackle the WR while the ball is in the air and accept the 15 yard penalty; which i'm sure no-one wants to see

I don't watch college football, but does the above happen at all?

im 100% sure the pass interference will be no1 on the off season talking points for the nfl

15yds and player off the pitch untill change of possesion! Or march the penalty off but down and distance remain the same, so you get the yards but have to replay the down/situation! Problem of course with penalties near goal line or in End Zone then.

Another rule notedin Thursday game if your foot touches the Pylon and your not airborne is a TD! The ball might be behind you still is that correct! What would happen if you slide ( like steal a base slide in BB ) and hit pylon, THE BALL MIGHT STILL ACTUALLY BE ON THE 2 OR IN AN EXTREME CASE THE 3 YARD LINE! RB should actually have to carry the ball over the goal line not break its plain and place the ball on the ground hence " TOUCH DOWN "

The ball should have to break the plane IMO

In every other place on the field it's where the ball is that determines where the play ends, not the player's feet.

Similar last year when Steelers beat Baltimore at end of Reg Season. Santanio Holmes caught a ball with his feet on the EZ line and even though the ball never crossed the plane it is still a TD.

Terrible rule.

Reading the game report on NFL.com it would seem that I am mistaken about the PIT@BAL last year.

The TD was given because the booth official ruled that the ball DID in fact break the plane.

Have to admit that I thought the comms said at the time that the ball didn't have to break the plane but there you go.

Anyway, carry on, nothing to see here!

The overturning of that call was absolutely unbelieveable