The NFL will enforce a new rule in terms of pass interference for the 2019 NFL season, and it is certain to affect one major aspect of the game.
New pass interference rules
With 1:49 remaining in the 4th quarter of the 2018 NFC Championship game, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw an incompletion that will have a lasting impact on the outcome of NFL games this season.
The score was tied at 20-20 on 3rd & 10 with the Saints possessing the ball at the St. Louis Rams 13-yard line.
Wide receiver Tommylee Lewis would run a wheel route out of the backfield and be knocked to the ground by Rams cornerback Nickell Roby-Coleman just before the pass arrived. Officials did not call pass interference on the play and the Saints would go on to lose in overtime.
Here is that play:
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After missing such an obvious penalty, the NFL owners responded by approving the use of instant replay for pass interference. Replay will available, via a coaches challenge until the final two minutes, for calls that were made as well as for play the coaches feel should have been called. While the instant reaction to this rule change will focus on defensive pass interference, it’s biggest impact may actually work against the offense.
Over the course of the 2018 NFL season their were 249 accepted penalties for defensive pass interference resulting in a total of 4,280 penalty yards.
By contrast their were only 85 accepted instances of offensive pass interference penalties with 837 yards being assessed. Depending on how aggressive coaches will be utilizing their challenges, that number could go up this year.
It isn’t simply wide receivers “pushing off” that will be impacted, these two types of plays are far more egregious.
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The first example was not called but would be had the Denver Broncos been able to challenge it. On this “Bubble Screen” the slot receiver engages the slot cornerback before the pass is thrown and should have been flagged. This second example is of a “Rub Route” which many people will recognize as a “pick”.
It is a common concept used primarily to beat man coverage. Typically the wide receiver who runs the “rub” attempts to do a better job of making it less obvious and this play was penalized.
Impact on RPO’s
Run-pass option or “RPO’s” are being run by every team in the NFL. They are the “next step” in the evolution of the “Read-option” many fans are familiar with. The difference is where the quarterback would read the “conflict defender” or “key” to determine whether he would hand the ball off or run it himself, his second choice is now to throw a pass to a predetermined receiver.
Here is a diagram of a “Middle Zone / Slant” RPO for reference.
The location of handing the ball to the running back while reading the “key” defender is called the “mesh point”. On this play as the quarterback is going through the “mesh point” he is reading the highlighted strong safety ( SS ) and makes a decision based on his movement. If he stays home in the throwing lane, the quarterback hands off.
If the safety pursues the run, the quarterback pulls the ball and throws it to the “Z” receiver.
Because this play has a legitimate run play built into it, the offensive line blocks it like a run play. This is were things will get tricky this season and could lead to an increase in penalties. In this play, both guards will initially double team the defensive linemen before “climbing” to the 2nd level and block the linebackers.
This action occurs before the quarterback has thrown the ball, which is considered offensive pass interference, and therefore subject to replay review.
"Article 4. Other Prohibited Acts By the OffenseBlocking more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage by an offensive player prior to a pass being thrown is offensive pass interference. See 8-3-1 for exception for an ineligible offensive player.Note: It is also pass interference by the offense to block a defender beyond the line while the pass is in the air, if the block occurs in the vicinity of the player to whom the pass is thrown."
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Here is the Raiders facing this very same play in their week 4 matchup with the Cleveland Browns. While the pass was incomplete, this play was a 1st & Goal from Oakland’s 1-yard line. Had they had the ability to challenge this play call, they would have very likely pushed the Browns back 10-yards.
Plays like this make it more likely that the number of coaches challenges being made for pass interference reviews, may very well come from the defensive side of the ball.
As always, coaches will find a way to adapt and this doesn’t mean a death knell for RPO’s, they simply will be coached differently. It could be as simple as having a key word yelled as the ball is handed off alerting the offensive linemen to release downfield. They can also use more outside and stretch zone runs that naturally keep the offensive line near the line of scrimmage.
The NFL making rule changes has become an annual tradition and coaching staffs are constantly being forced to re-evaluate how they are teaching techniques or designing plays. This will be just one more in a series of adjustments they are forced to make.
While this replay rule was intended to once again help out the offense, it is the defense that may be rejoicing as they may finally be the beneficiaries of a new decree.