A missed call in the 2018 NFC Championship Game likely cost the Saints a trip to the Super Bowl. League owners approved a new rule Tuesday that could prevent that from happening again.
“For one year only, [a new rule change] expands the reviewable plays in Instant Replay to include pass interference, called or not called on the field,” the league announced in a press release Tuesday.
That means the Denver Broncos (and all teams) will be allowed to challenge pass interference calls (and non-calls) in 2019. It’s only a one-year rule but if it goes well, the league will likely make it a fulltime rule in 2020.
It’s worth noting that teams will still only have the ability to challenge two calls per game (and losing a challenge results in a lost timeout). So this sounds like a good change for the league.
It won’t make fans in New Orleans feel any better about 2018 but it should prevent the same kind of scenario from happening in 2019.
