3 changes the NFL can make right now to help fix the officiating

I try not to overreact too much in life, including how I cover the NFL. It must be exhausting to always be emotional each and every week of the NFL like many fans can be. One area of the game where overreactions are often the most heightened is when it comes to the officiating.

I do my best to keep a level head about the officiating, because the refs have a tough job and often get more correct than they’re given credit for. I appreciate the work they do. However, slow-motion replays and social media make their jobs even harder. We get to scrutinize every single decision, or lack of a decision, the officials make.

That’s not to say they haven’t made mistakes. There were two awful roughing the passer calls in a close Broncos-Bears game, both of which led to points. But here is where I cut the officials some slack. They are yards away from the contact and it’s extremely difficult in real time to make the call if the defender landed on the quarterback too hard. When we get to watch it in slow motion, it’s apparent it shouldn’t have been a flag, but I understand the officials protecting the quarterback.

Then there’s the pass interference review, which has gone better than expected for the most part. I always believed the officials would not overturn most of these without a definitive amount of evidence it was pass interference. However, that wasn’t the case on a replay against the Steelers Sunday. The Seahawks challenged a ball just thrown up into double coverage by Russell Wilson for defensive pass interference, and it was overturned. That doesn’t fit the spirit of the rule. The officials should always use caution when overturning these.

My stance on review, in any sport, is it should fix egregious errors in officiating. It’s not in place to change the outcome of 50/50 plays, in which five out 10 people would rule it differently. While these situations might be something we have to deal with going forward, the good news is they haven’t been the norm so far this season.

With all that being said, there were a few other issues that came to light this week that can be addressed. I’ve got three things the officials can change right now that would make the game better.

The first, sadly again, involves the Saints and the officials’ repeated instance in whistling a play dead before it could be over.

On Sunday, the Saints and Rams were tied 3-3 with six minutes left in the first half. The Saints were holding tight, even without Drew Brees, but the Rams were driving. Then, Jared Goff held the ball just a tad too long and his arm got hit as he was going to throw the ball. Goff threw the ball with an empty hand, meaning it’s a fumble, and Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan scooped it up for a long touchdown return:

But no, the officials whistled the play dead because they called that an incomplete pass. Upon review, it was clearly an empty hand moving forward and the Saints were awarded the ball at the spot of the fumble recovery. But they didn’t get a touchdown out it like they should have. On their ensuing possession, the Saints turned the ball over on downs, coming away with zero points out of the turnover. The Rams took the lead right after on a field goal and never looked back.

So, the Saints ended up getting screwed again.

It seems this exact play happens multiple times a season and in every case, the defense is denied points. That’s normally a swing of points, sometimes up to 14 and it can be the deciding factor in a game. I see no legitimate reason to never let these play out and then sort out the proper call afterwards. We know turnovers get automatically reviewed so a coach wouldn’t need to challenge it.

The officials need to err on the side of letting these play out from now on.

The NFL smartly has implemented multiple rules to protect the quarterbacks. They are the stars of the league and a huge driving force in bringing eyeballs to the games. You can’t win without an elite one, either.

On that note, the NFL made a tweak to the rules regarding quarterbacks “diving” forward. In the past, quarterbacks were only giving themselves up when they slid. When they slide, they become defenseless and can’t receive a blow to the head, or even the body, if the hit is “late.” The NFL decided before last season to afford those protections to quarterbacks who dive. When that happens, no matter what part of the field, they are “giving themselves up.” Before, they needed to be touched to be ruled down on a dive.

Well, this rule finally caught up to the NFL.

On Sunday night, Carson Wentz attempted to dive for the goal line on an Eagles two-point conversion attempt. It was CLEAR Wentz was not giving himself up, but rather attempting to make a play to score. Everyone knew this, and if you ask the NFL officials in a quiet place, they’d admit it as well.

That’s now how it was ruled, though:

This is where being so black and white with rules can be a mess and costly to a team. Just have some nuance with the rule. If quarterbacks are diving for the first down or the goal line, they must be touched to be considered down. If they dive a yard or two past the first down marker, it’s clear they are giving themselves up. It doesn’t seem that difficult.

The officials are getting wild with holding penalties. There ended up being 96 holding penalties for the entire week, after Monday Night Football. Last season, it was reported an internal memo was sent out before Week 13 to increase the number of holding calls. It worked:

Then, the refs went back to the normal amount of holdings. All good. Now, for whatever reason, the NFL has decided to make holding a priority this season. The numbers have spiked so high that it’s obvious the refs are on the lookout for holdings. Some of them have been preposterous and would not have been called in previous seasons.

This many holdings ruins the flow of the games. The games become ugly and fewer points are scored. If there’s an obvious hold, then call it. But it’s counterproductive to call penalties just to call them.

These suggestions won’t fix everything, but they are at least three changes officials can make now that would help make the games more watchable and lead to less grumbling from fans.