The NFL’s pass interference problem is back on the table, and this time the chatter has a timeline attached.
After a pair of controversial calls in Week 3, the old debate over whether pass interference should be reviewable - or at least challengeable - picked up steam again. And Ben Solak of ESPN put a bold date on where he thinks this could be headed: the league may eventually expand replay assist to cover those calls.
“A few more of those,” Solak wrote about such questionable penalties, “and we're going to see the ever-expanding reach of replay assist extend into pass interference calls. So long as it's the speedy assist method, and not the prolonged review method, I'm all for it. There's nothing I respect less than receivers farming pass interference instead of playing the ball.”
The latest round of frustration came on Sunday afternoon in the Dallas Cowboys’ game against the Baltimore Ravens. Late in that matchup, Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb appeared to commit offensive pass interference on Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins, but Wiggins ended up being flagged for pass interference instead. Baltimore still won the game.
Then came the nightcap, where another DPI call loomed large in the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-26 loss to the Denver Broncos. After the game, Denver’s Pat Bryant said he “sold” the contact from Rams cornerback Josh Wallace to get the penalty.
The Athletic’s NFL writers also weighed in on the bigger question. Jeff Howe argued that the league “should adopt soccer’s VAR system to quickly legislate these calls,” while Indianapolis Colts beat writer James Boyd said that “pass interference calls should always be reviewed, the same way we review all touchdowns and turnovers.”
Not everyone wanted to go down that road. Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer Mike DeFabo and longtime NFL reporter Michael Silver both said people need to “get over” the reality that officials miss calls and get some wrong every season, in every sport.
If the league does decide to revisit the issue, it may not be immediate. But the conversation is clearly alive, and league meetings in the winter and/or the spring of 2027 could be where pass interference review becomes a real topic.
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Dak Prescott did not hide his frustration afterward, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer acknowledged he had told the quarterback to throw the ball away on a critical play. For Baltimore, it was the kind of closing sequence that can harden a win into something bigger, because a game that might have slipped away instead became a statement about how quickly the Ravens can punish a cautious opponent. [Read more 🡒]