Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell doesn’t sound eager to bring back reviewable pass interference, even with another controversial call putting the issue back in the spotlight.
The latest flashpoint came in the Rams-Broncos game, when Los Angeles cornerback Josh Wallace picked off a Bo Nix pass in the red zone with a little more than a minute left, only to have the play wiped out by a pass interference flag. That penalty kept Denver’s drive alive and helped set up the game-winner. On replay, it looked as if the more likely call may have been offensive pass interference on Broncos receiver Pat Bryant.
Campbell wasn’t asked about that specific sequence, but he was asked where he stands on making pass interference reviewable. His answer was pretty direct.
“I’m all good with it not being a challenge anymore,” Campbell said. “Those guys have got to make the call, and you’ve got to live with it.”
That stance carries some weight, considering Campbell was on the Saints’ staff during one of the most infamous non-calls in playoff history. In the 2018 NFC Championship Game, Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman clearly hit Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis before the ball arrived, yet no flag came out. The no-call loomed even larger because it happened with less than two minutes left in a tie game, and New Orleans went on to lose in overtime.
The fallout from that play pushed the league to allow coaches to challenge pass interference the following season, but only on a one-year basis. The experiment never really solved the problem. Coaches challenged 81 pass interference calls that year, and only 13 were overturned.
For Campbell, that kind of system just drags the game into more confusion.
“I just know when we tried to do this whole thing, it just gets muddy, man,” Campbell said. “It’s so subjective, is what happens.
And I think what you run into is the same thing that we’re running into with catch, no catch. There is a- it’s told this is what it is.
But yet, man, if it’s 50-50, they’re going to go with what’s been called. And now you do enough of these, now the game gets extended, you’re waiting to figure out what they’re going to say.”
The issue also hits close to home for Detroit. Through three weeks, the Lions have been flagged for a league-high five defensive pass interference penalties, though three of those were declined.
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