The Indianapolis Colts and owner Jim Irsay have officially proposed an NFL rule change in an attempt to partially alleviate the officiating woes of the recent past.
According to NFL insider Ari Meirov, the potential new rule would allow a coach to challenge any penalty called on the field inside two minutes.
Bad officiating caused many fans to think the Indianapolis Colts had a win stolen from them
In late October, the Cleveland Browns defeated the Indianapolis Colts 39-38 in one of the most entertaining games of the NFL regular season. The Indianapolis Colts had a 38-33 lead and were trying to stop the Cleveland Browns and quarterback P.J. Walker from going down and scoring a game-winning touchdown.
They thought they had done so with a fumble recovery that occurred with under a minute left to play. That recovery was overturned due to a defensive penalty. The Browns now had first-and-goal from the Colts’ eight-yard line.
The ensuing play saw Walker throw a ball several yards over the head of wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones in the corner of the end zone. Many fans, including the commentators of the game, thought the pass was uncatchable. Nonetheless, the officials called defensive pass interference on the Colts, giving the Browns the ball on the one-yard line. Many fans were not happy with the outcome.
Definitely looks like an uncatchable pass on a play that was ruled pass interference to give the Browns first and goal at the 1
They then take the lead with 19 seconds left #CLEvsIND pic.twitter.com/q1qSxcNI8h
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 22, 2023
The NFL predetermines game outcomes: I’ll show you this game as evidence. Prove me otherwise.
— Stanley Ray (@StanleyRayToday) October 22, 2023
Browns fan here. That was as awful call. I think the NFL refs are trying to correct all the past sins against the Browns in prior years.
— THE Suburban Jerk (@SuburbanJerk) October 22, 2023
That was an awful series by the refs.
— D Davis (@nolafan76) October 22, 2023
It took a few plays, but Browns running back Kareem Hunt was able to punch it in for the score and the win. The Colts ended up being one game away from making the playoffs at the end of the regular season.
Many coaches and executives think officiating is ‘broken’; The Indianapolis Colts proposed rule change could help
There were several notable officiating blunders in the 2023 NFL season, which drew a lot of attention to the state of NFL officiating. One assistant coach from the NFC explained that the officials are not held accountable in a Yahoo Sports article.
“I feel like it’s such a cop out. … they don’t want 17 booth officials that they have to pay more money to. But it’s like: [An] owner literally spilled a drink and has to pay 300 grand. Assume all 31 owners spilled a drink on a fan. That would go a long way to getting qualified officials,” the coach said.
In the same Yahoo Sports article, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell explained that there is an effort being made when it comes to the improvement of officiating in the NFL. This could mean a rule, like the one proposed by the Indianapolis Colts, could get more of a look than it would have in the past.
“We know how hard those players are playing, we know how hard the coaches are coaching, we know how much the fans put into it passionately,” Goodell said. “So we want to get it right every time. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to hit that bar.
“But we’ll sure work our a** off to do it.”
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