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Court Briefs

<p>PHOENIX &#8212; Pass interference, whether flagged or not, can be challenged by coaches and reviewed by officials next season.</p><p>NFL team owners voted Tuesday on a one-year trial basis to include those often-controversial penalties in the officiating replay review system.</p><p>Coaches still will have two challenges per game, and in the final two minutes of a half or fourth quarter or for all of overtime, the replay official can order a review of offensive or defensive pass interference.</p><p>The major change &#8212; owners traditionally have been highly reluctant to include any penalties in the replay process &#8212; stems from an egregious missed call in the NFC championship game that likely led to the Rams making the Super Bowl and the Saints falling short.</p><p>&#8220;I told the owners we need to get to a place, and I felt strongly we should have OPI and DPI and that we should be able to throw flags (that were not thrown on the field,&#8221; Commissioner Roger Goodell said. &#8220;Everyone in there finally got to understand through a long process and a lot of discussion, everyone wanted to get it right. Some had to remove themselves from long-shared views.&#8221;</p><p>The competition committee, which recommends rules changes to the ownership, had been split 4-4 on adding interference penalties, particularly non-flagged ones, to replay. But they tweaked the proposal, and it remains part of the overall replay system, which was a critical component.</p><p>Falcons President Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, said the analytics also played a role in the rules change. Of the 50 most incorrect on-field calls as determined by officiating director Al Riveron and his staff that were impactful, half of them were for defensive pass interference.</p><p>&#8220;We felt this was a place to start,&#8221; McKay added. &#8220;There was a lot of discussion and definitely a block of people on the committee and in membership concerned about the ability to put a flag on. We got more comfortable as we worked it out that it would be captured in the replay system.&#8221;</p><p>Earlier in the day, the NFL owners voted down a proposal to replace the onside kick with one play from scrimmage, and tabled a suggestion to require each team to have one possession in overtime regardless of what happened on the first series of the extra period.</p><p>Owners vetoed the idea of a one-year trial of a fourth-and-15 play from the offense&#8217;s 35-yard line to replace the onside kick, considered one of the game&#8217;s more dangerous plays. The powerful competition committee recommended the play by a vote of 7-1, but the owners were not swayed.</p><p>The overtime change is championed by several clubs after the AFC championship game in January &#8212; and the 2017 Super Bowl &#8212; ended with a Patriots touchdown without the opponent getting the ball. New England won the coin toss both times.</p><p>Currently, the format is a touchdown on the opening possession of OT ends the game, but a field goal allows the other team a series with the ball. If that team also kicks a field goal, the game continues.</p><p>Owners will next take up the overtime topic at their May meeting.</p><p>Approved on Tuesday:</p><p>&#8212; Making permanent all kickoff rules implemented only for the 2018 season. Studies showed this player safety initiative worked.</p><p>&#8212; Eliminating the blindside block in an effort to expand protection of a defenseless player. It is now a 15-yard penalty if a player initiates a block in which he is moving.</p><p>&#8220;As a former player and father of two that play ball, and having the opportunity to coach (youth football),&#8221; football operations chief Troy Vincent said, &#8220;this particular play, the blindside block, it ends careers, puts people on the shelf.</p><p>&#8220;That particular technique, I was taught that. To have that removed out of our game is significant.&#8221;</p><p>&#8212; Allowing teams to elect to enforce on an extra point kick or play an opponent&#8217;s personal or unsportsmanlike conduct foul committed during a touchdown.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media during the NFC/AFC coaches breakfast during the annual NFL football owners meetings, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_122523551-09576611bc044e7fa794bfab6fa85895.jpg</photo0><caption0>New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media during the NFC/AFC coaches breakfast during the annual NFL football owners meetings, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Barry Wilner</p><p>AP Pro Football Writer</p></bylineMeta></div>

NFL passes one-year trial for reviewing pass interference by replay