Sean Payton Advocates for Replay Review of Pass-Interference Penalties

A day after safety Kenny Vaccaro was flagged for a controversial pass-interference call, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton called for the NFL to allow challenges on such penalties.

"It has been [discussed] and for good reason, and let's hope that that at some point [it is addressed] sooner than later," Payton said Monday, per Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com. "Listen, it's been brought up and discussed by a number of clubs, and I think the Competition Committee needs to spend a lot more time thinking about that specific call, [which] is so critical to get right."

Vaccaro was flagged while covering Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen on a fourth-down pass. Although it appeared as though Vaccaro played the ball and was within his rights as a defender, the penalty gave the Panthers the ball at New Orleans' 1-yard line and erased a turnover on downs.

The Saints were called for three pass-interference penalties Sunday, all of which put Carolina inside the Saints' 2-yard line. New Orleans held on for a 41-38 win, with Wil Lutz hitting a 52-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining to move New Orleans to 2-3.

Pass-interference penalties are judgment calls by officials and thereby not challengeable. The NFL has resisted allowing coaches to challenge judgment calls—in part because it would undermine officials.

"I think that will be discussed, but I think it’s unlikely we move in the direction of penalties," Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said on Mike & Mike in 2014 (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). "That’s a hard thing to do. The only penalty that’s actually reviewable on the field is too many men on the field. I think once we look at penalties, you’re asking for problems.”

No major changes have transpired since Fisher's quote, and it seems unlikely they will in the near future. Any such changes would almost certainly get some level of pushback from officials, especially regarding judgment calls such as pass interference.

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