Nobody wants to spend a Sunday talking about the officials, but the NFL keeps dragging everybody back there.
That was the backdrop when Kyle Shanahan was asked about the league’s old experiment with making defensive pass interference challengeable again. He wasn’t reacting to one specific call from Sunday night, but the conversation fit perfectly after another messy, controversial penalty had everybody looking at the flag instead of the football.
Shanahan said he liked the idea at the start because the goal should always be getting the call right.
”I thought it was good going into it then because I’m always, regardless of what happens, I just want them to get it right. You just want it done right, and especially if you can see it on TV.
It sucks to have to live with the wrong way when you’re in the heat of battle on the field, which is what the challenge is for refs, challenge for everybody.
So, I was excited when they made pass interference challengeable back then. Then after going through that year, I don’t think I ever want it back because it got too much and there was too much let them play, too much slow it down and see a little.
It almost probably would be like challenging fouls in the NBA. It just gets a little hard, so probably not a fan of it anymore.”
That position makes sense given how messy that system became, and the 49ers probably aren’t complaining that it’s gone. But the broader point is hard to miss: San Francisco has spent plenty of time on the wrong end of the whistle during Shanahan’s run.
Last week was another example. Fred Warner was hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty from the back judge that gave the Cardinals field position and opened the door for them to put points on the board. It looked like a routine tackle over the middle, the kind that shows up in games all the time.
It wasn’t as outrageous as the offensive pass interference call on Pat Bryant against the Broncos, but it still mattered. The kind of officiating mistakes that have shown up recently have been rough around the league, and the 49ers have had their share of them. Based on that trend, they’ll be hoping the next few whistles finally break their way.
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