What’s the Point of Reviewing Pass Interference If This One Didn’t Get Overturned?

In Friday’s Hot Clicks: Perhaps the worst call of the NFL season, Gronk’s broadcast debut and more.

What are we doing here?

FOX

The NFL’s new pass interference challenge rule caused a lot of handwringing when it was passed over the summer. People thought we’d have officials spending minutes scrutinizing the slightest bits of contact to determine whether it rose to the level of pass interference. Instead, they’ve mostly done nothing. 

Very few of the calls challenged by NFL coaches have been reversed on replay review, even in cases that seemed glaringly obvious. The most egregious example of this was in last night’s Patriots-Giants game, when New England defensive back Jonathan Jones clearly grabbed Golden Tate by the arm. Giants coach Pat Shurmur threw the challenge flag and NFL head of officiating Al Riveron took a look at the play in New York. He decided he didn’t see pass interference either. 

#NFL officials have gone rogue. 100-percent. This wasn’t called on the field and then wasn’t changed after it was flagged by the #Giants. So they ruled TWICE that this wasn’t defensive pass interference. Which is just blatantly wrong and a purposeful refusal to change the call. pic.twitter.com/BY2rRE6gQc

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) October 11, 2019

This is exactly the kind of play that the rule is designed to address. Jones interfered with Tate in a way that is no less egregious than how Nickell Robey-Coleman interfered with Tommylee Lewis on the play that inspired the rule change. Anybody with two eyes and more than five minutes of football experience can see that it should have been called pass interference. 

And yet, not only did the officials on the field let Jones off the hook, Riveron—with the benefit of extra time and every camera angle—decided the play was clean. How does that happen?

“I thought I had a solid chance to get it,” Shurmur told reporters, “but we see that replay doesn’t overturn much. So, I am not surprised.”

The pattern of refusing to overturn calls led Yahoo’s Charles Robinson to speculate that officials are willfully ignoring the rule change. 

“If anything, it’s a bigger problem than it was when the NFC title game mistake occurred,” Robinson wrote. “At least in that debacle, you didn’t know if the official meant to get the call wrong. What happened Thursday was clear. It was the wrong call once. Then it was the wrong call twice. And now the system looks like it’s broken. Or worse, corrupted by humans who can’t accept their own failure.”

That’s a strong take, and it says a lot about how the rule has been applied that it doesn’t seem out of the question. 

The best of SI

Eli Manning’s future after being benched, according to the people closest to him. ... Gerrit Cole already looks like the defining star of October. ... Snapping their playoff drought was just the first step for the Nationals. 

Around the sports world

The Jaguars still hang on to an axe that a punter infamously buried in his leg. ... A D-III football power was forced to vacate a national championship because the coach let players drive his 2006 Subaru. ... A Los Angeles juco coach is accused of putting 30 players up in a three-bedroom apartment and charging them $300–$400 in rent. ... The cool dropkick onside kick attempt that Justin Tucker tried earlier this year has been deemed illegal. ... A Padres pitcher got kicked and tased by an Arizona homeowner after he allegedly broke into the house through a doggy door. 

So much joy

Gronk as a broadcaster will be an adventure

Good job, good effort

The ball never touched the ground

Big man is flexible

Usually Superman goes into a phone booth to take his clothes off

Sounds about right to me

My condolences to Jeff for finishing second in the bidding

Not a bad way to spend a Friday

Holy crap

Not sports

Two New Jersey women face criminal charges after being caught cheating in a church bingo game. ... The Manhattan townhouse where Elaine lived in Seinfeld is up for sale. ... Nike made shoes filled with holy water but they’re already sold out. ... A terrifying amount of crickets descended upon UT-San Antonio.  

Nature is terrifying

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo)

Aaron Paul recaps Breaking Bad in two minutes

How cute is this?

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to seeprevious editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.