The NFL passed a DPI-OPI instant replay review rule and this is a good thing

For a second, it looked like the NFL wasn’t going to do anything about the defensive pass interference-offensive pass interference replay rule, meaning the call would still not be reviewable. The coaches wanted the league to add an extra sky-judge type official:

Sources: The 32 head coaches crafted a proposal to add an official in the booth to oversee "clear and obvious" mistakes on DPI, OPI, roughing the passer, defenseless player rules. The HCs then voted 32-0 to present it.

NFL isn't planning a vote on it. Some coaches aren't happy.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 26, 2019

The NFL and its owners weren’t willing to go that far. They didn’t want to make roughing the passer and defenseless player reviewable even if the officials missed the call. They did meet the coaches somewhere in the middle:

.@nfl has passed a one-year rule to allow OPI/DPI fouls AND no-calls to be reviewed. Coaches until final two minutes, then booth review. Massive philosophical change in response to NFC Championship Game.

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) March 26, 2019

This is a good thing. After the Rams-Saints no-call debacle something needed to be changed. The NFL generally only changes things when something big happens. That was no-call was huge. It was covered in the media ad nauseam. It was all over the place. If the NFL didn’t make a move to fix the problem, there would be a bunch of fans still demanding answers.

This version of the rule meets the coaches in the middle. It forces them to figure out if they want to challenge a play — up until the final two minutes — like any replay review would. Maybe a coach doesn’t want to waste a challenge on a maybe pass interference call in the first quarter. It might be smart to wait and hold that challenge until later. Challenges can be made on made and missed penalty calls. There’s a strategy to it. Football fans love strategy.

This decision also won’t affect the pace of play and flow of the game. Both of which have been a focus of the NFL and its owners due to games running too long, complaints from fans, and our shortened attention spans.

Of course, the new rule still has issues. Pass interference — either way — is a judgment call. It’s not exactly easy to overturn judgment calls. Will the folks in New York and the official on the Microsoft Surface — branding! — be willing to overturn the call of another official on the field? We can assume it would have to be egregious for something like that to happen. No calls will be easier to overturn than actual calls. We finally have a review that’s going to be wasted more than coaches challenging the spot of the ball.

In any case, we did it! The Saints and their fans did it! We have reviews on pass interference finally. The only people not happy have to be Jon Gruden and Mike Brown.