Much has been made about the NFL's desire to change the catch-rule. But an even bigger change could be coming to the NFL this offseason.
According to The Washington Post's Mark Maske, the NFL's competition committee is discussing changing the defensive pass interference penalty so that it's only a 15-yard penalty at most instead of a spot foul farther downfield.
NFL competition committee is discussing the possibility of limiting defensive pass interference penalties to, at most, 15 yards.
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) February 27, 2018
However, Bob Glauber of Newsday reported that it's "very doubtful" that the change will be enacted.
Being told it’s “very doubtful” that NFL would adopt 15-yard pass interference penalty to replace current spot foul penalty.
— Bob Glauber (@BobGlauber) February 27, 2018
If it is enacted, though, it'll have a more significant impact than the catch rule. The spot foul turns incompletions deep downfield into massive gains. How many times have we seen a quarterback purposely underthrow his target 40 yards downfield so that the trailing defensive back runs into the receiver and picks up a 35-yard penalty? It happens all the time, rewarding bad throws with game-changing first downs.
Let's say the rule had been enacted before last season. Here's how it would've changed the game:
From @NFLResearch: the difference between DPI yards gained by each team in 2017 and what it would have looked like under proposed new rule pic.twitter.com/fJVMbBXPJL
— Matt Harmon (@MattHarmon_BYB) February 27, 2018
The argument against the rule change will likely revolve around a defensive back's ability to simply commit pass interference when he gets burned deep downfield. A 15-yard penalty in that scenario is a win for a defensive back who's about to give up a touchdown or a deep completion. Also, look at the top four teams on the list above: It's four Super Bowl contenders.
Others have suggested then that the NFL should move to a tier system where normal pass interference penalties are 15 yards while clear-path pass interference penalties are spot fouls.
Forever re-upping my pass interference fix:
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) February 27, 2018
- Standard pass interference is 15 yards
- Any pass interference where you flagrantly prevent a clear path at a touchdown is a spot foul
Wish they'd change it to two different penalties: spot fouls for blatant infractions, 15 yards for minor infractions.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 27, 2018
The argument against that proposal is that the league would be turning a subjective call into an even more subjective call. Officials already have a hard enough time making correct pass interference penalties under the current rules. Adding another layer will only make their jobs harder and lead to even more outrage. What happens when it's not clear if it should be a standard penalty or clear path penalty and the difference between the two calls is 30 yards?
In short, there's probably no easy way to perfect the pass-interference penalty. That's probably why a change won't be coming this offseason.
As NFL.com pointed out, rule changes must garner the support of 75 percent of owners to be enacted.
