A serious rules change will be proposed and debated during the upcoming NFL League meeting. The possibility of reviewing penalties on instant replay will be discussed.
“A proposal allowing challenges to every officiating decision will be brought forward jointly by the Bills and Seahawks at next week’s league meeting,” Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk wrote. “If the owners vote in favor of the new rule, all penalties — from holding to pass interference, facemasking to false start — could be challenged.”
This is hardly the first time it’s been brought up. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has advocated this in the past. More recently, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton has stated that pass interference calls should be reviewable, which you can read about here. Still, talks have never gotten this far.
Smith did note that it “seems like a long shot that the proposal will pass.”
One potential holdup is what these reviews would do to the pace of the games. This week, commissioner Roger Goodell has proposed a series of changes that would make games quicker.
Given how often penalties are called, how serious they can be, and how subjective they often are, replaying penalties would become a prevalent part of the game.