NFL Owners Approve New Rule Making Pass Interference Reviewable

NFL owners voted Tuesday to allow replay reviews on pass interference calls as well as non-calls, Dallas Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Coaches will now have the opportunity to challenge pass interference calls or non-calls outside of two minutes of each half, while the booth will automatically review any close calls inside of two minutes.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, both offensive and defensive pass interference calls will now be challengeable.

The Cincinnati Bengals were reportedly the only team to vote against the rule change, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.

"People compromised on long-held views because people wanted to get it right," commissioner Roger Goodell said after the vote, per Rapoport.

Head coaches initially wanted even more drastic changes, per Albert Breer of The MMQB:

Still, NFL owners at least voted this one through.

"I think we got it right," New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton said Tuesday, per Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

Payton's Saints lost the NFC Championship Game in part because of a critical missed pass interference call. Late in the fourth quarter with the score tied, Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman hit receiver TommyLee Lewis before a pass arrived on 3rd-and-10 from the Rams' 13-yard line. He wasn't flagged for the play, though, and the Saints had to settle for a field goal and eventually lost in overtime.

The new rule could allow officials to change such a critical call. However, it also might have unintended consequences:

Considering there were 249 pass interference calls last season, per NFLPenalties.com, along with additional violations that went uncalled, this could be a massive rule change for the 2019 season.