Browns rreceiving Stats Miscellany

Rams/Saints No-Call May Not be the Fault of the Officials

The Rams/Saints playoff game ended with a blatant non-call of Defensive Pass Interference when Nickell Robey-Coleman  plowed Tommylee Lewis with a good solid helmet-to-helmet hit.  Yet pass interference was not called.  They also could have called blatant helmet-to-helmet contact and that wasn't called either.You can watch the No-Call of the century with NFL Game Pass:  https://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2019012000/2018/POST3/rams@saints

Saints fans might feel better if the NFL fires the officials.  But that is too easy and does not solve the problem.  

First, let's be clear that there is no dispute, none whatsoever, that the non-call was an error.  But what the media has not done a good job of pointing out, is that although both pass interference and helmet-to-helmet are blatant on instant replay, the officials were not watching through the TV camera. 

Look where the Head Linesman and Side Judge are positioned and ask what they can actually see from their positions.  

Though I am far from an expert on officiating, as far as I know the Side Judge is supposed to make the call, and he is correctly positioned, downfield and a few yards out of bounds.

To make a correct call, the side judge would have to see, with his own two eyes from where he was positioned, the following:  

a.  Pass interference.  Did the defender interfere with the pass?

b.  Catchable ball.  Was the ball thrown such that the receiver had a legitimate possibility to catch the pass?

c.  Helmet to helmet.  If there is no pass interference, was there helmet to helmet contact?

From the replay, we know that all three questions were yes, yes and yes.  But the side judge was in good position only to see one out of three factors.  


From where he is positioned he should have clearly seen the  Robey Coleman hit Lewis eons before the ball gets there.  

But does the Side Judge think the ball is catchable or not?  That is less obvious. The ball was thrown behind the receiver.  From the vantage point of the replay camera, it looks like it was a make-able catch.  But the side judge has the wrong angle to determine how far behind the runner the ball lands.  He could easily have thought the ball was less catchable than it was.

So, probably the Side Judge saw definitely that the defender got there too early, but might not have seen if the ball was catchable (not to mention the fact that the NFL rule book does not define catchable).  

Other officials were probably in position to see that the ball was catchable, but there is no mechanism to communicate that information to the Side Judge.  You only have a conference if someone throws a flag, and the Side Judge did not throw his based on what he saw, and the other officials apparently did not want to overrule a perfectly positioned Side Judge. That protocol may need to be reviewed. 

Well okay, if the Side Judge did not have the angle to rule on uncatchable ball, what about helmet to helmet?  Well, here again, TV had the perfect angle and the Side Judge did not.  Even though in this case it was a solid hit, the sides of the helmets collide rather than a head-on collision, and neither the Side Judge nor the Head Linesman are in good position to see the point of contact.  

Really the TV camera had the perfect angle to see the play, and the TV camera is not used to assess a penalty.  That is the real problem.

The announcers did not do a very good job of analyzing the no call.   Yes it should have been a penalty. The reason why it was missed was probably not incompetence of the official, but was more probably due to the lack of positioning to see "catchable ball" and "helmet-to-helmet" in this case.   

To get that call right the NFL flatly has to have the TV camera to see it.  Firing the official might make people feel better, but very likely there needs to be a rule change.  The NFL Rules Committee will have to look at how it impacts the game overall.  Not every call is blatantly blown like that, so drawing the line between confirming and overturning is not simple.  My gut feeling, however,  is that some form of challenge will be put in place soon.  

It is understandable that Saints fans are upset and want to get a do-over for the game, but that is not going to happen.  Improving the rule might make them feel better, but what is done is done.  We need to cut the official some slack, and the ball should be in the court of the NFL Rules Committee.