Report: No changes planned to review penalties
The NFL's competition committee has no plans to change its rules on challenging penalties, ESPN reported Sunday.
The committee has resisted using video replay to review penalties. However, some coaches reportedly wondered if the committee would take another look at changing the policy after the controversial ending to last Monday night's game between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers beat the Patriots 24-20 after New England quarterback Tom Brady's pass on the last play of the game was intercepted by Carolina safety Robert Lester in the end zone.
A penalty flag was thrown on the play because Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly appeared to interfere with Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. However, referee Clete Blakeman ruled there was no penalty because Brady's throw was deemed uncatchable, nullifying a pass interference.
Dean Blandino, the league's vice president of officiating, said Tuesday that the officials used "proper mechanics" to make a "tight judgment call."
Since pass interference penalties are not reviewable, officials must make a judgment call on when contact with the receiver restricts him from catching the ball.
In the case of Monday night's controversial play, Blandino said the "restriction occurred simultaneously with the ball being touched. When you watch it at full speed you can see why they would make that call on the field."
