Tony Dungy urges NFL to get rid of pass interference challenges
The NFL has shown almost a complete unwillingness to overturn any pass interference call or non-call this year despite making such plays reviewable, and Tony Dungy is among those who believe the league is wasting everyone’s time.
New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur challenged a pass interference non-call on tight end Evan Engram during Monday night’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and almost everyone would agree there was a clear and obvious penalty. Like we have seen so many other times this season, the officials still decided not to drop a flag upon reviewing the play.
What do you guys think?
Pass interference or no pass interference pic.twitter.com/opTjHuW7JY— BettorIQ (@BettorIQ) November 5, 2019
After Shurmur lost that challenge, the success rate of coaches challenging pass interference calls and non-calls this season dropped to less than 10 percent. Of the 52 pass interference plays that have been challenged, the call on the field has been overturned just five times. Dungy ripped the NFL over that on Tuesday.
Please NFL do us a favor and don’t let coaches challenge any more Pass Interference calls. You’re causing teams to lose time outs, making your officiating department look inept, and making us fans feel stupid—like we don’t know the meaning of clear, obvious and significant! pic.twitter.com/A6tBXcYoWU
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) November 5, 2019
It has become clear that the NFL only made pass interference plays reviewable to avoid a complete disaster like the one we saw during the NFC Championship Game last year. We could tell by the way reviews of those plays were being handled in the preseason that the success rate for having them overturned was going to be incredibly low. In certain situations, Dungy is right that it is an insult to fans.
